power of neglected
by saiyangodryu8
Summary: His whole life Naruto Namikaze has been neglected by his family over his sister. When he hear the announcement of his family his heart shatter and without even thinking he to run away from village. Outside the village he meets someone who will change his life forever Strong Ki user Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **This is reedited chapter**

 **Hidden Leaf Village, Hospital…**

"MINATONAMIKAZE, YOU BASTARD, AS SOON AS I'M WELL ENOUGH, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU FOR PUTTING ME THROUGH THIS!"

This roaring oath of maternal vengeance, which only occurred during childbirth, came from one Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze as she squeezed her husband, Minato Namikaze's hand.

"It's gonna be alright, Kushina. I am here for you. You just need to calm down and take deep breaths and push the baby out. You're going great, love. You've got this." Minato soothed his wife, ignoring the crushing of his hand by screaming on the inside.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU ROTTEN ASSHOLE! YOU COULDN'T EVEN BEGIN TO FATHOM WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH NOW, JUST SHUT UP!" Kushina howled. After a few minutes, her screams slowed down to exhausted sighs.

Then the glorious cry of a newborn baby boy erupted in the air, filling both parents with relief and joy. Unfortunately, this peace shattered when Kushina began to scream in pain again.

"MINATO, HOW MANY KIDS HAVE YOU PUT IN ME?"

When the cry of a newborn baby girl filled the air, the parents finally settled down.

"Congratulations, you have a son and daughter! Kushina, here are your children" Biwako, the nurse commended, tending to Kushina.

"Look Minato, aren't they beautiful?" spoke a very tired, yet extremely emotional Kushina.

"Yes darling. They are very beautiful. Just as their mother" Minato replied, joyful pride in his voice.

"What are the names of your new children?" Biwako asked.

Kushina and Minato locked eyes for a moment before turning back to the nurse with a smile.

"The boy, we'll name him Naruto, for he'll become as strong as a maelstrom. The girl, she shall be named Natsumi, for she'll grow to be as beautiful as the summer."

"They're pretty good names, right?" Kushina asked Biwako with a smile.

"They are very beautiful names."

She began covering the two newborns as Minato started the suppressing seal on Kushina. Childbirth took a lot out of the new mother, but considering she had to keep something in as well as push something out, she couldn't even move without feeling weak.

Suddenly, a crash reached Minato's ears. He turned and saw Biwako and a nurse in a pool of their own blood. He turned around to see a masked man holding kunais to the throats of the newborn children.

"Stay away from the Jinchuriki or else your children will die."

Minato knew he couldn't save his kids and keep his wife away at the same time, so he did the most logical thing. He rushed to save his children and took them to the safe place in the Namikaze compound. Unfortunately, that's what the masked man wanted so he could escape with the Jinchuriki to extract Nine-Tails.

The man vanished with Kushina and with his Sharingan; he extracted the Nine-Tails with no regards to the excruciating pain the host felt. He turned to leave but Kushina spoke, coughing up some blood.

"Don't…go any…further; tell me…why…do you…want the Nine-Tails?"

The man stopped and turned to Kushina.

"You Uzumaki don't die right after extraction of the beast. Quite admirable, I must admit. Why do I want the Nine-Tails, you ask? It's simple…I want to destroy Konohagakure, and its destruction begins with you. Nine-Tails, kill her.

The Nine-Tails lifted his paw to attack Kushina but she disappeared in a yellow flash. Minato then carried Kushina to the same room where he left his children and a few ANBU. Minato placed Kushina on the side of bed beside their children and Minato started donning his battle gear. He previously had a duty to his wife. Now, his village needed him. With a longing look at his family, he vanished, ready to defeat the masked man and the Nine-Tails that endangered his home.

 **Hidden Leaf Village, Main Square**

In the village hidden in the Leaves, the night blanketed the people with a calming air. Children lay in their beds asleep. Mothers and fathers, husbands and wives all slept, ready for the next day's work. A peaceful night, indeed…until a masked villain appeared inside an empty alley. He went through several hand signs, slapped his hand on the ground and uttered two very ominous words.

 **"Summoning Jutsu."**

The giant Nine-Tails appeared and started to attack everyone. The once pleasant and peaceful night turned into a death battle.

Minato then arrived at the Hokage monument. When he saw the Nine-Tails attacking everyone, he used himself as a distraction and turned the Nine-Tail's attention towards him. Nine-Tails looked at Minato and fired a Bijuu Dama, when Minato saw this he flashed through hand signs and teleported the Bijuu Dama to the outskirts of the village.

He tried to analyze the Nine-Tail's attacks and redirect them before he sensed someone behind him. With swift reflexes that earned him the title of "Yellow Flash", he avoided a kunai in the back. Minato attacked the intruder and the attack went right through him. The feeling of something drawing him in confused him even more. He turned back to the masked man, only to see him swirling in a vortex. Whenever they had originally intended to go, Minato caused the vortex to disappear in a flash of yellow light.

 **Hidden Leaf Village, Training Grounds**

Minato arrived in the remote area a bit exhausted, but otherwise fine. Suddenly, the attacking masqueraded ninja appeared again, using his own space-time ninjutsu. When Minato saw this, he instantly understood how the villain invaded Konohagakure without anyone noticing. Minato started the battle throwing a volley of shuriken and kunai but they just passed through his enemy. However, he had to dodge the last kunai.

' _That jutsu…it seems he has a limit to how frequently he can use it.'_ Minato thought.

"It's been a while since I fought someone like you." The enigma spoke. He unsealed the chain, wrapped it around his wrist and got into his battle stance.

 _'I have to move quickly if I'm gonna get him. Attack time window: 5 seconds. '_ Minato analyzed. With that, he also got into his battle stance holding his special tri point kunai. For some time, they stared at each other until the masked man made the first move.

Minato also threw his kunai, which phased through him. The enemy thought he would win now but suddenly Minato vanished and reappeared behind the masked man, holding his kunai in his left hand and a blue chakra ball in his right hand.

"This is my **Flying Raijin, level 2.** " He then thrust his right hand toward his back. **"Rasengan!"**

Minato also put his seal on him, but the masked man separated himself from him. The enemy held his right shoulder and from his sleeve some white substance fell. He turned his face to Minato.

"You may have been able to disconnect my connection with the Nine-Tails for now, but I will get my hands on him eventually." He then vanished, leaving an exhausted Minato.

"Kushina…Natsumi…Naruto…I hope you're all still safe."

 **Hidden Leaf Village, Battlefield**

The third Hokage, two sennin and many experienced jonin and chunin all fought against theNine-Tails. However, despite their combined efforts, the fox demon's raw strength stood to overpower them. The younger generation received orders to protect all civilians and children.

Suddenly, a large toad fell on the Nine-Tail's head.

"Hold it right there, idiot!"

That voice belonged to none other than Gamabunta, the chief toad, summoned by Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage.

The Nine-Tails opened his mouth and started to gather a bijuu dama but before he could launch the blast, he vanished with Minato and an explosion occurred at the Namikaze compound. The third Hokage, two sennin and some ANBU also started to move on that direction.

When they arrived at the compound, the Nine-Tails has razed it to the ground. Minato searched through scrolls and started performing hand signs to seal the Nine-Tails inside his wife and children but the Third Hokage's hand on his shoulder stopped him momentarily.

"What happen, lord Third? Is there any problem?"

"Let me help, Minato. I shall seal away the fox using the **Forbidden Secret Technique: Dead Demon Consuming Seal.** "

Minato started to protest but a chop to his neck silenced him. The third Hokage went through the hand signs and the shinigami appeared behind him. When the shinigami looked towards Naruto, he thought

 _'I sense potential in you, my boy. Let's see what becomes of you."_

With that thought, the reaper sealed the yin chakra inside Natsumi, the yang chakra inside Kushina, and devoured the third's soul.

Tsunade started to give medical treatment to Kushina. With Tsunade's medical knowledge and half of the Nine-Tail's chakra again sealed inside Kushina, Tsunade saved her. At that time, Minato woke up and looked around. When he saw lord third's dead corpse, he began to cry but soon stopped when he looked at his children. He embraced them and then Jiraya came to Minato and told him what the third Hokage had done.

While the conversation was going on, the newborn Naruto started to cry. Soon, everyone did everything possible, even deigning to the most humiliating of antics to cease the infant's wailing. Instead his voice started to rise as if he had encountered some sort of unimaginable pain. His body started to glow red but Tsunade came closer to Naruto and used her medical jutsu. Everyone began to panic, especially Kushina.

Tsunade, with great effort, calmed down the crying babe with her medical jutsu. When the light died down, Naruto looked the same but Tsunade had told them that something had destroyed his chakra coils, they immediately felt pity for the child. Naruto had no chakra coils, which rendered him obsolete to many eyes.

He would live, but he would never, in his life, become a ninja.

With the Nine-Tail's chakra sealed in Natsumi and Kushina, the villagers rejoiced and hailed Natsumi as a hero but when they saw whisker marks on Naruto's face, they thought of Naruto as the reincarnation of the demon. They didn't say anything there, but they would make it their business to make the boy's life hell for what the demon did to them.

 _ **Namikaze estate, 7 years later…**_

"Papa, papa, and look at what I can do!"

A small girl gleefully lifted a blob of water about the size of a hand out of a pond and started to mold it into different shapes while keeping it in midair about one foot above the water's surface. Natsumi Namikaze of 7 years old had quite a blessed life.

She stood at 3'4" with a slim figure. Her slim figure came as a result of her training, which had commenced when she had turned 4. Her luscious red hair reached the middle of her back, like her mother before her, and she had enough energy in her crystal blue orbs to fill an ocean.

"Good job, Natsumi. At this rate, you'll grow up to be the best kunoichi in the Hidden Leaf, beside your mother of course." Chuckled Minato, pleased at his daughter's progress. As he congratulated his daughter, his wife appeared in the doorway, looking proudly at Natsumi as well.

If one looked a little closer into the Namikaze compound, they would see a little kid who, like Natsumi, had lived 7 years. This child sat in the outer corner of the compound, looking at the sky with eyes of deep sadness.

These eyes belonged to Naruto Namikaze, Natsumi Namikaze's older brother and the only son of Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze and Minato "The Yellow Flash"Namikaze, who also led the village as the fourth Hokage.

Naruto and his father Minato looked almost identical. They both had blonde spiky hair, and ocean blue eyes. He stood 4 inches taller than his little sister, and he had a lean built with slightly pale skin. Anyone would recognize him by the near permanent fake smile on his face.

Now anyone with any decency would wonder why the poor lad always sat by his lonesome. This actually happened for two reasons. One, his family would always ignore him and refuse to acknowledge his existence. Two, because no one could do anything to hurt him when in the comfort of his home.

Ever since he became aware of his own existence, poor Naruto had known nothing but isolation, disdain, and hatred. Whenever he walked into the streets of the Hidden Leaf, the villagers would either close their shops and send him evil glares or shout harsh words at him.

"DEMON!"

"FREAK!"

"MONSTER!"

Naruto could never go a day without hearing those words at least once. They would even crowd the poor child and ruthlessly beat him until he could barely breathe.

Every day, when he could get his parents alone, he would ask them why the villagers treated him so badly when he didn't do anything wrong. His mother, father, or both would always say that their villagers would never attack a fellow villager without reason, that if they really did hurt him, then Naruto must have brought it on himself. They would then give Naruto the cold shoulder and return to gushing over Natsumi.

Time after time, he would ask his parents to train him so at least he could at least defend himself when the villagers wanted to attack him, but they always denied him, saying Natsumi needed to control her power. Naruto kept asking his parents to train him, if not in ninjutsu or genjutsu, then maybe taijutsu or at least kinjutsu. However, they still refused. Not until he had turned 4 did his parents reveal why they would refuse him.

' ** _Flashback'_**

 ** _Four-year-old Naruto Namikaze was sitting with his family who were talking about how they should start training Natsumi in new arts and her ninja career. Naruto, who looked up to Minato and Kushina with the typical adoration a child would have toward their parents, interrupted them._**

 ** _"Father, can I also start training with you?" He asked with an excited tone. Minato and Kushina looked at him with irritation._**

 ** _"No, Naruto. You cannot. Natsumi needs more training because she needs to control her power, power that you don't have." Minato replied, before turning to talk his wife again._**

" ** _That's not the only reason…is it?" They looked back at Naruto, who had to clench his fists in a vain attempt not to cry in front of his parents._**

" ** _There's another reason why can't I train with you, right? Mother, father, please tells me. I want to know. Why else can't I train with you?"_**

 ** _Minato looked annoyed while Kushina looked hurt. She hated this gnawing helplessness in her heart. She hated the fact that as a mother, she couldn't do anything for her son. She wanted to tell him but she said nothing. Minato sighed and looked at his son with eyes colder than ice._**

 ** _"If you want to know so badly, fine. You're worthless, Naruto. The moment you were born; your chakra coils were destroyed beyond repair. That's why you can't train with us. That's why we favor your sister, because unlike you, she'll grow into a fine ninja, one worthy of succeeding me as Hokage. I've told you what you wanted to know, now see yourself to your room."_**

 ** _Hearing his father call him something so hurtful so casually shattered the pedestal that young Minato placed his father, the Fourth Hokage, on so highly. He kept his head down as he turned too walked toward his room. Kushina wanted to go and apologize to him but Minato stopped her._**

 ** _"It is for his own good Kushina. He needs to know the truth now so it won't be a problem later. What could possibly go wrong? It's not like he can despise us, right? He can't run from the village, can he?"_**

 ** _Kushina shook her head and gave him a small smile. She started her work in the house and soon Naruto began to fade from their memory until he no longer came to mind as their son._**

' ** _Flashback end'_**

He sat there quietly and stared at the sky, contemplating his existence.

"My chakra coils are destroyed. I can never become Hokage. I can't even become regular ninja, let alone Hokage. But why do the villagers always beat me and call me a demon? I didn't kill their loved ones. I haven't killed anyone."

Naruto, unbeknownst to his family, actually had a sharp head on his shoulders. He only wanted attention from his parents, even a little bit, whether good or bad. So he would always pull pranks on many of the villagers from petty thievery to defacing the Hokage monuments. It always ended in him getting scolded by his parents and locked in his room for days without food. Many times, Kushina forgot to make food for Naruto. He'd either eat the leftovers or he wouldn't eat at all. The lack of maternal care really took a toll on the poor male Namikaze.

While almost every civilian in the Hidden Leaf Village hated Naruto, the child actually had some friends his own age. In fact, a few clans in the village actually treated him with respect.

Sasuke Uchiha of the Uchiha clan, for example. He had black eyes and spiky black hair with a blue tint. He met Naruto one day and before they knew it, they had become best friends, almost brothers. Though, they had quite vitriolic words for each other. Sasuke would often call Naruto "Dobe" which meant "Loser", to which Naruto would reply with "Teme" or "Bastard" or "Big Jerk."

Choji Akimichi of the Akimichi clan, as well. He also has spiky, brown hair that stuck upward. He had a rather rotund build and markings on his cheeks in the form of swirls. When Choji first met Naruto, he found him wandering the streets, looking worse for wear. He brought him to his father and, to make a long story short, Naruto went home with a belly full of food and a new friend.

Shikamaru Nara of the Nara clan, too. He struck Naruto as the lazy type, but the two became friends swimmingly. He had shoulder length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail. He saw Naruto staring at the clouds out on the bridge and joined him. After a few hours of talking and getting to know each other, the two had become friends.

Ino Yamanaka of the Yamanaka clan, another friend of his. She had fair skin, blue eyes, and long pale-blonde hair worn in a ponytail, with bangs framing the right side of her face. She met Naruto when he came to her with a request to buy some flowers for a pretty girl he knew. They both had pretty energetic personalities and, as a result, became friends swimmingly.

Rock Lee, when they first met, struck Naruto as odd. However, when Lee told Naruto that he had a goal to become a splendid ninja, even if he couldn't perform ninjutsu or genjutsu, a chord struck with the boy. From then on, Lee considered Naruto his eternal rival. Something Naruto initially found weird, but accepted, glad to have one more friend in the Hidden Leaf Village.

Then came Hinata Hyuga of the Main Branch family of the Hyuga. She had dark blue hair that she keeps in a hime-cut just above her forehead with chin-length strands framing her face. When they had first met, a few bullies taunted her because of her dojutsu Kekkai Genkai, the Byakugan.

' ** _Flashback'_**

 ** _The young heiress of the Hyuga clan had taken a stroll through the village. She walked with her bodyguard, a happy smile on her face because of the fact that she got her favorite cambium rolls. While she ate, she didn't pay attention to where her bodyguard was and got separated. Suddenly, she bumped into someone and fell on her butt. She moved to get up and apologize, but three pairs of eyes gazed upon her with disgust._**

" ** _What the hell are you doing here, freak?!"_**

 ** _Hinata remained seated, her eyes dilating in fear. The one who called her a freak suddenly struck the heiress and pulled her by her hair, forcing her to look at her attacker, tears sitting in her eyes._**

 ** _"Your stupid clan thinks they're living gods, but you're nothing compared to me, weak bitch! If you want to go home so badly, then lick my shoes like the tramp you are."_**

 ** _The tears started falling from her eyes freely. When those boys saw this, they grinned. Two other boys grabbed her head and tried to force her to lick the shoes. Suddenly, the leader fell to the floor after catching a mean left hook from an unknown interference._**

 ** _"LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU BASTARDS!"_**

 ** _The boys holding Hinata let go and turned their faces to see a young boy in a white t-shirt and orange pants glaring at them. The boys' leader rubbed his cheek and turned to his fury onto Naruto._**

" ** _You're gonna wish you hadn't done that, you loser!" (No, this isn't Sasuke)_**

" ** _Yeah right! I'm gonna mess you up!"Naruto yelled before attacking the leader. The other two sprang into action, grabbed Naruto and all three beat Naruto. This continued on for 30 minutes, but Naruto never once screamed, he never once cried, and not once did he beg for them stop. He just kept getting back up. The bullies stared at Naruto as he prepared to attack them again._**

" ** _This loser's a freak, just that like that damn girl!" One of them shouted before looking to where Hinata used to be. The heiress ran away, but not too far, as she silently pleaded for her unsuspecting hero to prevail._**

" ** _She's gone!" One of the bullies yelled angrily. Naruto roared and prepared to charge them again. "Forget this, let's get out of here!" One said and they all ran, but Naruto ran after them for an extra 10 seconds to ensure they didn't come back. Naruto walked back towards where Hinata stood._**

 ** _"Are you alright? Don't worry; I won't hurt you." Hinata didn't know if she could trust him, even after he drove those bullies away, but when she saw the pleading in his eyes, she felt no reason to fear him and walked out from behind her hiding place._**

" ** _You're not hurt, are you?" Hinata just shook her head, earning a sigh of relief._**

" ** _That's good. Well, I better get going." A few minutes later, Hinata's bodyguard returned and asked her what had happened but she only stared at the path Naruto had gone down._**

' ** _Flashback end'_**

When the Hyuga clan heard of what Naruto did for their heiress, they quickly befriended him. When Hinata saw Naruto again, she blushed and hid behind her father's leg, much to Naruto's puzzlement, but her father's amusement. Actually, when Naruto had prevented some Cloud Ninja from kidnapping young Hinata, their debt to him only increased further.

' ** _Flashback'_**

 ** _One day, Naruto had retreated into the allies close to the Hyuga compound, hiding from villagers so they would not capture him and beat him to death. He didn't have any chakra, so any injuries suffered at the hands of the villagers would last for quite some time, even with the help of the doctors, who only begrudgingly helped. While he ran beside the compound, he suddenly saw a man jump off with a bag. The man had black covering everything saves for his face, hands, and forehead, which had a headband with overlapping clouds engraved in the center. Naruto could only come to one conclusion._**

" ** _THIEF! IT'S A THIEF! He stole something from the Hyuga compound! Someone come out, he's got a bag with him!" Naruto continued to call for help until the thief threw a kunai into his shoulder, causing him to scream in pain. The thief wanted to slice his throat so he rushed toward him and tore the kunai for the boy's shoulder, earning another shout of pain. Naruto looked towards his attacker, cursing himself for not having chakra, for not having the strength to stop this thief._**

" ** _Guys…Natsumi…Mother…Father…"His strength rapidly decreasing, Naruto closed his eyes and waited for his end._**

 ** _An end that would not come._**

 ** _He opened his eyes and saw the kunai only a few inches away from his jugular. He also saw the thief lay on the floor with his eyes rolled in the back of his head. Certain death._**

 ** _Naruto hadn't died. He hadn't died, because someone saved him! Someone willingly saved him. Ever since his father declared him worthless, he never thought anyone, not even his parents, would care for him enough to save him. Yet there he lay, saved by the head of the Hyuga clan and the father in Hinata, Hiashi Hyuga. He looked at Naruto, who nodded in and out of consciousness. He lifted Naruto and stared to walk towards the hospital. He felt Naruto grip his shirt and heard him mumble_**

 ** _"D-don't t-tell m-my f-family p-please." With that, he lost consciousness. Hiashi, at the time, didn't understand but he would accept his request. After all, the boy just saved his daughter. No honor came from punishing a good deed. Three days later, he understood why he didn't want to tell his parents. They never came to see their son._**

 ** _Furious at the complete neglect, Hiashi wanted some answers from Minato and Kushina, but Naruto stopped him._**

 ** _"I want them to acknowledge me, Hyuga-sama, but I want to do that with my own strength." Hiashi stood in speechless shock. He never expected the boy to have such a strong resolution. "Very well, young one. Before I go, I will say this…you have more resolve than any child I've seen. Don't ever lose your resolve, as it will only strengthen you."_**

' ** _Flashback end'_**

After that day, the Hyuga compound thanked him wholeheartedly and told him that if he ever needed a home, he had one here. He practiced taijutsu and they always helped him in his training to become strong and to get the acknowledgement that he deserved.

One night, he stood in front of the Hyuga compound, training by himself when a member of the Leaf Village ANBU Black Ops caught sight of him. The ANBU had completed his mission and had set off for home when he spotted Naruto. He came in front of Naruto, who freaked out that an ANBU had suddenly appeared. He didn't really fear the ANBU themselves; he just didn't want them to tell his father about his training.

"Hello little one, what are you doing here?"Naruto looked at ANBU and spoke carefully.

"Training."

"Why are you training here alone? You should ask your family to help you." A shadow fell over Naruto's eyes and he kept silence for a few seconds before speaking.

"They don't want to train me because I don't have any power. Please don't tell my family that I was training here. Whenever they catch me training, they always lock me in my room or they hit me. Please sir, don't tell them."

As much as Naruto disliked crying, the pain of his family turning their back on them hurt. It hurt very much. The ANBU went to a knee, stupefied. Would the Fourth Hokage really do that to his own child? The ANBU then removed his mask, revealing the handsome face of Itachi Uchiha. He gently wrapped his arms around Naruto and they both vanished in a shunshin, appearing inside the Uchiha compound

When the Uchiha learned of the neglect shown to Naruto, they wanted some answers from both parents. But Naruto refused.

"It's okay, everyone, I understand Natsumi needs help to control the Nine-Tail's chakra." He gave them a smile but they could tell fake smiles from real smiles like yin and yang. Still, they respected the boy's wishes and left it alone.

Natsumi would always tease her brother about their father and mother loving her more and not liking him at all. Absorbed in her own naivety, she had no idea how much of an impact those words would have on her older brother.

 **October 10, Night**

 **Hidden Leaf Village, Namikaze Estate**

On October 10th, everyone in the Hidden Leaf Village would emerge to celebrate the birthday of Natsumi Namikaze as well as the defeat of the Nine Tailed Fox by their beloved Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Many kids, ninja, and children enjoyed the party but some people wandered the streets, searching for their whiskered friend, Naruto. After all, he entered this world on the 10th of October as well.

Speaking of Naruto, the poor Namikaze sat in his room, crying because his family forgot about his birthday again. After his second birthday, they started to forget his birthday and never looked at him as their son, but as a nuisance instead.

He soon heard a knock on his door when he opened it, he saw his best friend, Sasuke Uchiha looking at him with a small smile. Behind him were Itachi Uchiha, Mikoto Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga, Rock Lee, Choji, and Shikamaru who were holding their presents for him.

They smiled at him and moved forward giving him their presents. From Itachi, he got fingerless gloves, from Mikoto a white tee and black pants, from Hinata a necklace with an orange gem, from Rock Lee shinobi sandals, from Choji some Ramen, from Shikamaru an orange sleeve less jacket, and from Sasuke a bracelet.

Suddenly, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand and started to walk outside. Naruto protested at first but Sasuke insisted.

"Come on, dobe, just come outside."

Naruto looked at his best friend and after a few seconds, he acquiesced.

"Alright teme"

Everyone in the room chuckled at their antics, while both of them blushed with embracement but Naruto changed his clothes first, putting on the new clothes he just got from his friends. They came outside and into the garden of the party. Naruto, as usual, saw nothing but hate filled glares from the civilians.

Then everyone started to move towards the crowd this was time for Natsumi's birthday gifts. Naruto look around and saw everyone was dragged away from him so started to leave but then he heard Minato and Kushina from the stage wanting to make an important announcement. Minato came forward and began to speak,

"Hey everyone, thanks for coming out for Natsumi's 8th birthday party and the celebration of the defeat of the Nine-Tails by the hands of our beloved Third Hokage. You all have generously given our daughter your gifts. Now it's time for us to give her gifts of our own. As you all know, Natsumi is the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails and she is strong for her age so I, Minato Namikaze and my wife Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze have decided that Natsumi, our only daughter, will be the clan heir of both of our clans."

The entire crowd started to cheer for Natsumi. They all loved her and believed that she, like her father and mother before her, would lead the village further into prosperity. However, if someone looked at Naruto, they would see an innocent child whose heart, whose admirations for his family, whose dreams just shattered. He just wanted his parents to love him, for his family to accept him, but by this announcement, this would never happen. He didn't know what to do so, without thinking, he ran out of the house. He didn't have any direction, he didn't care who he ran into, he just wanted to run away; away from his parents, away from those villagers, he wanted to run away, PERIOD. At the gate, the guards had drunk a bit too much so they didn't register Naruto as he left.

Naruto had quite the speed for someone his age. Then again, having to run for your life from people who wanted your head often gave the boy incentive to run as fast as he possibly could. In time, the speed which he ran from the villagers became his natural speed. He ran and ran and ran until he finally bumped into something…or rather, someone. Running into the object felt like running into a brick wall for Naruto. The boy looked up and saw a very muscular man leaning against a tree. Naruto looked at him in fear, but when he saw warmth in his eyes, he felt safe there and passed out from exhaustion.

 **Meanwhile, at the Namikaze estate**

The few friends who came to see Naruto, as well as the Hyuga and Uchiha clans, all stood, staring at the Hokage in shock, disbelief, and outrage. When Sasuke turned to Naruto, he found that his best friend had left. He, as well as the rookie friends Naruto had made, started to make their way to the house to comfort their friend. Unfortunately, their parents stopped them and said that he probably needed time to himself right now. They knew if they spoke with him now, it would get even worse so their parents told them to talk with him later, and with that they started to leave.

When Minato saw this, he looked completely confused.

"What happened? Are you guys not having a good time?" All the elders from the Hyuga and Uchiha glared at him but said nothing and left before Minato could do anything. Natsumi came and hugged him from behind so Minato left that matter for tomorrow.

Little did he know that such a mistake would come back and bite him, his wife, and his daughter, and it would bite down **HARD.**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **This chapter is reedited**

 **The next day…**

 **With Naruto**

Naruto woke up inside a tent, wondering how he even got there. Suddenly the memories of last night came to him like a flood.

His parents forgetting his birthday.

His friends coming to encourage him.

His best friend and brother at-length, Sasuke, dragging him out to the garden party in an attempt to cheer him up.

The announcement made by his father.

His eyes began to water again. He had desperately hoped that someone had placed him under some strange genjutsu that someone wanted to prank him into believing that his parents had completely forgotten his existence. He didn't have chakra, so he couldn't dispel the genjutsu on his own, but the pain in Naruto's heart felt way too real.

His family, the three people he loved and cherished above all else, had truly forgotten him.

The glass that shattered around Naruto's heart threatened to pierce it and kill him. How could they have forgotten his existence? How could they forget their only son? The fact that he didn't have any chakra inside of him automatically he didn't mean anything to them, if not as a ninja, then at least as a son? It hurt. It really hurt Naruto inside.

He also remembered running into something or someone built like a brick wall. With the recollection, he stopped crying and rubbing his head as he glanced around. He wanted to know, how did he get here in the first place? Did that brick wall man help him, or did someone else find him unconscious and drop him off here? He got up and went outside.

He heard birds and cicadas chirping. The giant trees, blocking the annoying sun from reaching Naruto's eyes confirmed his location, a jungle. The humidity of the dense Green land surrounding him made it a bit difficult for the forgotten child to breathe. He turned to his left and what he saw nearly made him fall unconscious again.

100 people with different kinds of masks, headbands, and clothing stood unconscious, restrained to a tree.

Naruto had no way of knowing who tied them up but any boy in his shoes would turn and run in fear for their life. However, again he bumped into the same man from last night. When he saw him, he gulped in nervousness.

The man stood, at least, at 5'11" tall. He had straight spiky black hair and a sky blue fighting gi. The man had quite the athletic build. Naruto saw many girls making these weird faces at saying these weird things to some of the ninjas in his villages who had those kinds of bodies. He still didn't know what they meant, but since they smiled, Naruto guessed they didn't have any mal intent.

The boy's train of thought came to a derailment when the strong man leaned down toward him with his hand out. Naruto looked at the stranger in despair and closed his eyes in fear, praying his end would come quickly. He had no family in the Hidden Leaf Village, but he did have plenty of friends who would miss him, but what could he do? He had virtually no power!

" _ **This is it for me. No Hiashi-oji sama to save me this time."**_

Naruto's breath hitched in his throat when the man's hand came to rest on his head, but when he opened his eyes, he saw the strong looking stranger giving him a gentle, genuine smile, something only his friends would give him. The boy dared himself to relax, but couldn't help but feel his dread falling bit by bit.

"Are you ok, kid? Don't be scared, okay? What were you doing in this big jungle all by yourself?"

Naruto looked at the man with pain filled, ocean blue eyes. He leapt towards him and wrapped his arms around, desperate for a shoulder to cry on. The man remained stunned momentarily, but sighed and brought his arms around the abused, tortured soul, rubbing his back as the boy clenched his gi tightly. It took a while for Naruto to calm down, but the man apparently had quite a good amount of patience.

"Kid, what is your name?"

"…Naruto."

"Nice name you got there, 'Maelstrom.'" The two chuckled a bit at that remark, and then the man asked again, "What were you doing in the jungle alone?"

"My family abandoned me." The man looked at him in disbelief but understood what he meant, so his eyes filled with sympathy.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Naruto looked at the man who had genuine concern in his eyes and thought

 _'Even if I tell him, he won't be able to help me. It's not like he'll grow upset with my family and offer me training to become strong. Still, it probably wouldn't be that bad. At least I have someone else I can talk to about this.'_

He then looked back at the man and started to tell his tale. After Naruto concluded his tale, the first part of what he said wouldn't happen come true. The man's smile dropped into a frown, and many angry thoughts went through his head.

 _'How could they do that to him? He is their son, not a damn street dog!'_

"I just wanted to get acknowledged by my parents. All I wanted was their love. Now I know that I'll never have it. They don't want me anymore. In fact, they have even forgotten they have a son." Naruto sighed sadly.

"Tell me, Naruto, if you get the power, what would you do first?"

"…eh? Well I don't know. At first, I just wanted power to get acknowledged by my family, but I could care less about that now."The thoughts of the times he shared with his friends run through his mind.

He remembered how everyone looked down on Rock Lee because he couldn't use chakra properly. He remembered those three bullies who hurt Hinata because she didn't want to fight anyone. He then looked at the stranger with resolution.

"If I have the power, I will protect those who are precious to me and prove the world that even those who start off weak, like me, can become strong if they train and want it badly enough."

The man looked at Naruto in pleasant surprise.

' _He may be small, but he's got a sharp head on his shoulders.'_ The man looked down at the child. "Well Naruto, you passed my test, would you like for me to train you?"

Naruto stood in surprise that both of what he said wouldn't happen actually ended up happening. "Well I-I did tell you that I wanted to become strong, but I can't use chakra."

The man chuckled at that and Naruto got annoyed.

"Hey, what's so funny?"

"Naruto, in this world, there are many sources of power. This kind of power is ki, also known as your life force. There are some similarities between ki and chakra, but ki is much more powerful than chakra. In fact, it's even harder to control than chakra."

Naruto stood, stunned that the man in front of him practically gave him a way for him to become strong enough to protect his friends and prove to the world how strong and important he could become. He looked the man in eyes with determination and bowed.

"I would be really honored to learn the arts of ki from you, Master eh…What was your name again?"

"It's Ryu, and no need to be that formal with me. I don't like formalities much, but you can call me master or sensei if you wish."

Naruto looked at Ryu, and then he realizes that Ryu hadn't told him about himself and about the people tied to the trees.

"Master Ryu, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, ask whatever you want."

"Well, can you tell me about the people are tied to the trees?"

Ryu looked at the trees and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, about them…they're bandits who were trying to threaten the nearby town, so I knocked them out for the village. I don't like people who think they can do anything because they have power."

Naruto stood in awe of his new teacher. The man helped the people of the town nearby simply because he wanted to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

"How did you defeat them, Master Ryu?"

"With my martial arts." Ryu replied simply. They both exchanged large grins. "Naruto, let's pack up the tent. In half an hour, we'll start moving."Naruto started to help Ryu with the tent and put the fire out. When they finished, they started to leave but Naruto wanted to know; how would they carry the bandits? His confusion stopped and his eyes went wide when Ryu lifted the trees with his bare hands and put them on his shoulder and started walking.

"Naruto, I will explain it later, just start walking in front of me. Don't worry, I will give you directions."

After close to 25 minutes of walking, Naruto and Ryu arrived at a deeply impoverished village. Ryu left the bandits near town and started to walk in the opposite direction. Naruto looked at Ryu with confusion.

"Master Ryu, why are you leaving them here? If you hand them to the people, they might give you a reward."

"Naruto, I know if I handed them to the village, I'd probably get a reward, but I love to travel to different places and help people without thinking of restitution. You should never need a reason to help someone." Ryu stopped for a bit and turned to Naruto with a serious gaze.

"Naruto, helping people without any expectation is not only the sign of true martial artist, but also the first step to becoming a true warrior. Remember it well."

Naruto just nodded, but he continued to stare at his new master in awe. He didn't want fame at all; he just wanted to help people without expecting anything in response. That made him the most honorable person in the world, even more so than his father, and with a big smile both of their faces, they left the village. Naruto walked forward with a new teacher, a new goal, and a new reason to fight.

 **Hidden Leaf Village, Park, One week later…**

The village hidden in the leaves had entered a period of relaxation following their huge celebration next week. Many people believed that Natsumi would prove herself a worthy heir to the Uzumaki clan and the Namikaze clan.

However, some people of the Leaf had no immediate cause for celebration.

Naruto's friends stood around, waiting for him in the park for the past week on a daily basis so they could talk with him and comfort him about his parents. However, never once did he show up. They waited for him for hours and hours and end, but he would never come, so they'd leave for home at evening, except for two people; his best friend, Sasuke and his crush, Hinata.

Hinata sat on one of the park benches and cupped her hand towards her chest. She couldn't place her finger on it, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible had happened and they didn't know it yet. Sasuke stood quietly against a tree. He, like Hinata, felt apprehensive for their friend, but they waited for him until nightfall.

He never came.

 **At the Uchiha compound,**

Everyone sat worried for Sasuke. For a whole week, Sasuke returned late, but for Sasuke not to have come home at this point in time worried the Uchiha family greatly.

"Father, it's too late now. I think we should get Sasuke home. I think he is playing with Naruto, so I will bring both of them." Fangaku, the father of Itachi and Sasuke, the clan head of the Uchiha and head of Uchiha police force, nodded his head.

 **At the park,**

Itachi vanished with a shunshin and appeared near the park. He saw Sasuke leaning against a tree, sleeping and also saw Hinata on the bench, sleeping. Itachi came towards Sasuke and woke him up when Sasuke woke up; he saw that night had fallen, which meant Naruto must've taken another rain check.

"What happened, Sasuke? Are you ok? Where is Naruto?"

When Sasuke heard Naruto's name, he hung his head, Itachi knew what happened so he wrapped an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and came towards Hinata. She lay crying in her sleep and mumbling desperately.

"Naruto, where are you? I need you now. I am scared."

When Itachi saw this, it made him very sad and then he heard footsteps. When he turned to the right, he saw Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata's father.

"What happened, Itachi? Can you tell me? Why is my daughter sleeping on the bench?"

Itachi looked towards Sasuke.

"We've been waiting for Naruto for a whole week but he still hasn't shown up yet."

' _So that's the reason she always comes home late. I thought those bullies hadn't learned a lesson from Naruto and kept antagonizing her.'_ Hiashi thought.

"Do you remember the announcement, Sasuke? He must have been feeling betrayed because of that day."

"I've known Naruto since we were 3 and I know anything about him, I know that even if Naruto is hurt, he will never show it on his face and he will come here to talk to us, no matter how bad the situation is!" Yelled Sasuke, who had to force back tears.

Hiashi stood in surprise at that outburst, but he knew that Naruto could always talk to Sasuke and Hinata. Aside from the others, he knew the boy felt strongly about those two in particular so he understood their feelings.

' _Now it's time to talk with Minato. I don't want to disregard how Naruto will feel, but the poor boy has been neglected enough.'_

He carried Hinata in his arms, thanked both Sasuke and Itachi and all parties left for their respective homes.

Thanks for reading

Special thanks to MODdenial

Have a nice dayChapter 2

This chapter is reedited

The next day…

With Naruto

Naruto woke up inside a tent, wondering how he even got there. Suddenly the memories of last night came to him like a flood.

His parents forgetting his birthday.

His friends coming to encourage him.

His best friend and brother at-length, Sasuke, dragging him out to the garden party in an attempt to cheer him up.

The announcement made by his father.

His eyes began to water again. He had desperately hoped that someone had placed him under some strange genjutsu that someone wanted to prank him into believing that his parents had completely forgotten his existence. He didn't have chakra, so he couldn't dispel the genjutsu on his own, but the pain in Naruto's heart felt way too real.

His family, the three people he loved and cherished above all else, had truly forgotten him.

The glass that shattered around Naruto's heart threatened to pierce it and kill him. How could they have forgotten his existence? How could they forget their only son? The fact that he didn't have any chakra inside of him automatically he didn't mean anything to them, if not as a ninja, then at least as a son? It hurt. It really hurt Naruto inside.

He also remembered running into something or someone built like a brick wall. With the recollection, he stopped crying and rubbing his head as he glanced around. He wanted to know, how did he get here in the first place? Did that brick wall man help him, or did someone else find him unconscious and drop him off here? He got up and went outside.

He heard birds and cicadas chirping. The giant trees, blocking the annoying sun from reaching Naruto's eyes confirmed his location, a jungle. The humidity of the dense Green land surrounding him made it a bit difficult for the forgotten child to breathe. He turned to his left and what he saw nearly made him fall unconscious again.

100 people with different kinds of masks, headbands, and clothing stood unconscious, restrained to a tree.

Naruto had no way of knowing who tied them up but any boy in his shoes would turn and run in fear for their life. However, again he bumped into the same man from last night. When he saw him, he gulped in nervousness.

The man stood, at least, at 5'11" tall. He had straight spiky black hair and a sky blue fighting gi. The man had quite the athletic build. Naruto saw many girls making these weird faces at saying these weird things to some of the ninjas in his villages who had those kinds of bodies. He still didn't know what they meant, but since they smiled, Naruto guessed they didn't have any mal intent.

The boy's train of thought came to a derailment when the strong man leaned down toward him with his hand out. Naruto looked at the stranger in despair and closed his eyes in fear, praying his end would come quickly. He had no family in the Hidden Leaf Village, but he did have plenty of friends who would miss him, but what could he do? He had virtually no power!

"This is it for me. No Hiashi-oji sama to save me this time."

Naruto's breath hitched in his throat when the man's hand came to rest on his head, but when he opened his eyes, he saw the strong looking stranger giving him a gentle, genuine smile, something only his friends would give him. The boy dared himself to relax, but couldn't help but feel his dread falling bit by bit.

"Are you ok, kid? Don't be scared, okay? What were you doing in this big jungle all by yourself?"

Naruto looked at the man with pain filled, ocean blue eyes. He leapt towards him and wrapped his arms around, desperate for a shoulder to cry on. The man remained stunned momentarily, but sighed and brought his arms around the abused, tortured soul, rubbing his back as the boy clenched his gi tightly. It took a while for Naruto to calm down, but the man apparently had quite a good amount of patience.

"Kid, what is your name?"

"…Naruto."

"Nice name you got there, 'Maelstrom.'" The two chuckled a bit at that remark, and then the man asked again, "What were you doing in the jungle alone?"

"My family abandoned me." The man looked at him in disbelief but understood what he meant, so his eyes filled with sympathy.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Naruto looked at the man who had genuine concern in his eyes and thought

'Even if I tell him, he won't be able to help me. It's not like he'll grow upset with my family and offer me training to become strong. Still, it probably wouldn't be that bad. At least I have someone else I can talk to about this.'

He then looked back at the man and started to tell his tale. After Naruto concluded his tale, the first part of what he said wouldn't happen come true. The man's smile dropped into a frown, and many angry thoughts went through his head.

'How could they do that to him? He is their son, not a damn street dog!'

"I just wanted to get acknowledged by my parents. All I wanted was their love. Now I know that I'll never have it. They don't want me anymore. In fact, they have even forgotten they have a son." Naruto sighed sadly.

"Tell me, Naruto, if you get the power, what would you do first?"

"…eh? Well I don't know. At first, I just wanted power to get acknowledged by my family, but I could care less about that now."The thoughts of the times he shared with his friends run through his mind.

He remembered how everyone looked down on Rock Lee because he couldn't use chakra properly. He remembered those three bullies who hurt Hinata because she didn't want to fight anyone. He then looked at the stranger with resolution.

"If I have the power, I will protect those who are precious to me and prove the world that even those who start off weak, like me, can become strong if they train and want it badly enough."

The man looked at Naruto in pleasant surprise.

'He may be small, but he's got a sharp head on his shoulders.' The man looked down at the child. "Well Naruto, you passed my test, would you like for me to train you?"

Naruto stood in surprise that both of what he said wouldn't happen actually ended up happening. "Well I-I did tell you that I wanted to become strong, but I can't use chakra."

The man chuckled at that and Naruto got annoyed.

"Hey, what's so funny?"

"Naruto, in this world, there are many sources of power. This kind of power is ki, also known as your life force. There are some similarities between ki and chakra, but ki is much more powerful than chakra. In fact, it's even harder to control than chakra."

Naruto stood, stunned that the man in front of him practically gave him a way for him to become strong enough to protect his friends and prove to the world how strong and important he could become. He looked the man in eyes with determination and bowed.

"I would be really honored to learn the arts of ki from you, Master eh…What was your name again?"

"It's Ryu, and no need to be that formal with me. I don't like formalities much, but you can call me master or sensei if you wish."

Naruto looked at Ryu, and then he realizes that Ryu hadn't told him about himself and about the people tied to the trees.

"Master Ryu, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, ask whatever you want."

"Well, can you tell me about the people are tied to the trees?"

Ryu looked at the trees and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, about them…they're bandits who were trying to threaten the nearby town, so I knocked them out for the village. I don't like people who think they can do anything because they have power."

Naruto stood in awe of his new teacher. The man helped the people of the town nearby simply because he wanted to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

"How did you defeat them, Master Ryu?"

"With my martial arts." Ryu replied simply. They both exchanged large grins. "Naruto, let's pack up the tent. In half an hour, we'll start moving."Naruto started to help Ryu with the tent and put the fire out. When they finished, they started to leave but Naruto wanted to know; how would they carry the bandits? His confusion stopped and his eyes went wide when Ryu lifted the trees with his bare hands and put them on his shoulder and started walking.

"Naruto, I will explain it later, just start walking in front of me. Don't worry, I will give you directions."

After close to 25 minutes of walking, Naruto and Ryu arrived at a deeply impoverished village. Ryu left the bandits near town and started to walk in the opposite direction. Naruto looked at Ryu with confusion.

"Master Ryu, why are you leaving them here? If you hand them to the people, they might give you a reward."

"Naruto, I know if I handed them to the village, I'd probably get a reward, but I love to travel to different places and help people without thinking of restitution. You should never need a reason to help someone." Ryu stopped for a bit and turned to Naruto with a serious gaze.

"Naruto, helping people without any expectation is not only the sign of true martial artist, but also the first step to becoming a true warrior. Remember it well."

Naruto just nodded, but he continued to stare at his new master in awe. He didn't want fame at all; he just wanted to help people without expecting anything in response. That made him the most honorable person in the world, even more so than his father, and with a big smile both of their faces, they left the village. Naruto walked forward with a new teacher, a new goal, and a new reason to fight.

Hidden Leaf Village, Park, One week later…

The village hidden in the leaves had entered a period of relaxation following their huge celebration next week. Many people believed that Natsumi would prove herself a worthy heir to the Uzumaki clan and the Namikaze clan.

However, some people of the Leaf had no immediate cause for celebration.

Naruto's friends stood around, waiting for him in the park for the past week on a daily basis so they could talk with him and comfort him about his parents. However, never once did he show up. They waited for him for hours and hours and end, but he would never come, so they'd leave for home at evening, except for two people; his best friend, Sasuke and his crush, Hinata.

Hinata sat on one of the park benches and cupped her hand towards her chest. She couldn't place her finger on it, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible had happened and they didn't know it yet. Sasuke stood quietly against a tree. He, like Hinata, felt apprehensive for their friend, but they waited for him until nightfall.

He never came.

At the Uchiha compound,

Everyone sat worried for Sasuke. For a whole week, Sasuke returned late, but for Sasuke not to have come home at this point in time worried the Uchiha family greatly.

"Father, it's too late now. I think we should get Sasuke home. I think he is playing with Naruto, so I will bring both of them." Fangaku, the father of Itachi and Sasuke, the clan head of the Uchiha and head of Uchiha police force, nodded his head.

At the park,

Itachi vanished with a shunshin and appeared near the park. He saw Sasuke leaning against a tree, sleeping and also saw Hinata on the bench, sleeping. Itachi came towards Sasuke and woke him up when Sasuke woke up; he saw that night had fallen, which meant Naruto must've taken another rain check.

"What happened, Sasuke? Are you ok? Where is Naruto?"

When Sasuke heard Naruto's name, he hung his head, Itachi knew what happened so he wrapped an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and came towards Hinata. She lay crying in her sleep and mumbling desperately.

"Naruto, where are you? I need you now. I am scared."

When Itachi saw this, it made him very sad and then he heard footsteps. When he turned to the right, he saw Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata's father.

"What happened, Itachi? Can you tell me? Why is my daughter sleeping on the bench?"

Itachi looked towards Sasuke.

"We've been waiting for Naruto for a whole week but he still hasn't shown up yet."

'So that's the reason she always comes home late. I thought those bullies hadn't learned a lesson from Naruto and kept antagonizing her.' Hiashi thought.

"Do you remember the announcement, Sasuke? He must have been feeling betrayed because of that day."

"I've known Naruto since we were 3 and I know anything about him, I know that even if Naruto is hurt, he will never show it on his face and he will come here to talk to us, no matter how bad the situation is!" Yelled Sasuke, who had to force back tears.

Hiashi stood in surprise at that outburst, but he knew that Naruto could always talk to Sasuke and Hinata. Aside from the others, he knew the boy felt strongly about those two in particular so he understood their feelings.

'Now it's time to talk with Minato. I don't want to disregard how Naruto will feel, but the poor boy has been neglected enough.'

He carried Hinata in his arms, thanked both Sasuke and Itachi and all parties left for their respective homes.

Thanks for reading

Special thanks to MODdenial

Have a nice day


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 4**

 **this chapter is reedited**

 **One week later,**

 **Namikaze compound,**

It's been over a week since the Namikaze family celebrated with the Hidden Leaf for their child Natsumi and the defeat of the Nine-Tails. Kushina hummed happily as she prepared breakfast for her family. However, she couldn't help but feel…incomplete somehow. She quickly forgot it when she saw a photo of her and Minato hugging Natsumi with smiles that outshone the sun.

When Kushina had finished preparing the food, she called her family down. Minato come down and saw Natsumi already there.

"Good morning, Father." Natsumi greeted sweetly.

"Good morning, my little princess." He kissed his daughter on her nose, causing her to giggle, and then looked towards his wife.

"Good morning, sunshine." Kushina giggled.

"Good morning, darling." He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a sweet kiss on her lips. When the husband and wife sat down, the family gave thanks and began their meal.

Now, like her brother Naruto, Natsumi Namikaze knew quite a lot. In fact, she placed in the top percentile of her class. She had an enormous amount of chakra; so enormous, in fact, that she could feel the chakra of other people from beyond the village. Naruto had no chakra, a fact she would constantly tease him about, but somehow she could always sense his presence. However, at the beginning of the week, she couldn't feel him. She believed he'd come back within a day or two, maybe three, but after a whole week had gone by, Natsumi felt that a key piece of her life, of her family, had just left her.

"Mother, Father."

"What is it, my dear?" Minato responded with a smile.

"Where is my brother? I haven't seen him since my birthday, and usually I always see him twice or thrice a week, but now it's been over a week and I haven't seen him. Is he okay?"

"Your brother? I don't..." Minato trailed off before his and Kushina's eyes and mouths opened in horrified shock.

By his name, Natsumi did have a brother. They did have a son!

" _NARUTO!"_

"He's probably in his room, sweetie. Why don't you go get him?" Natsumi nodded and left towards her brother's room.

Minato grabbed his head and nearly fell to his knees. His son! How could he have forgotten his son? All this time Minato felt satisfied, but he kept asking himself: "Have I forgotten something or someone?" He never knew the answer until just now. He cursed himself for his failing Naruto as a father as well as his blatant favoritism to Natsumi. He wouldn't ignore Naruto any longer. He would make it his business to give his son the love, support and affection he so richly deserved.

Minato looked at his wife, Kushina, who had fallen to her knees, crying and cursing herself. How could she neglect her own child when he needed her most? So he can't use chakra, that didn't make him any less her son! They had ignored their son and in time, even forgot about his existence. Well, that would no longer happen. Kushina would make sure that her son received the love only a mother, a loving, caring mother, could give.

With newfound determination, they went to his room as well, but saw Natsumi standing in front of the door.

"Sweetheart, why are you outside his room?"

"Father, he is not opening the door and I haven't gone into his room ever, so I think he might get angry."

Both parents hung their head in shame. In truth, since his birth, neither of them had ever seen the inside of their son's room. Other than his biological stats and the fact that he couldn't use chakra, just how little did they know about their son?

"Natsumi, we should open the door and see if he is there."

Natsumi nodded. Bracing themselves, they all entered inside his room.

The word hollow did not do the justice of describing the former room of the mistreated child.

They saw a very simple room without decorations, a plain bed, and some books in a bookshelf; then they saw drawings and a picture book.

Minato looked at a simple drawing of three people hanging in a park with happy faces and a child looking at them with a sad expression. Minato instantly knew the meaning of this drawing and let out a shuddering sigh of shame.

Kushina looked at the picture book, first she saw four people, standing together and holding hands. Kushina smiled, thinking Naruto still considered them family but as she flipped through the pages, she saw less and less of her little dandelion and then at the final page, only three people stood, holding hands happily. Kushina openly wept and Minato wrapped her arms around her.

Suddenly Natsumi screamed, they looked to see what had happened. They saw many of Naruto clothes, bloody and strewn across the floor. They also saw many bloody bandages and some hospital reports. Minato and Kushina looked at the ground in horrific confusion. How could an 8-year-old kid's room have so many bandages with blood?

When Kushina saw the hospital reports, she put a hand to her mouth to prevent herself from emptying the contents of her stomach. She almost collapsed but Minato caught her and grabbed the papers. Minato commenced a new string of curses against himself for his favoritism and neglect. How could they never have noticed that their son almost died twice because of someone stabbing his chest and cutting his throat?

The guilt and shame threatened to consume them from the inside out. The paternal anger of Minato Namikaze would cast itself upon everyone who dare harm his son. Then, he would fall on his knees in front of Naruto and beg for his forgiveness.

First, though, he needed to find him. He then flashed to the Hokage tower and called upon the ANBU Black Ops to find his son.

Minato flashed back to his estate to find his wife and daughter on their knees, wailing for their son and brother. He immediately wrapped them in his arms and they grabbed onto him desperately.

"I abandoned him. He needed me...and I abandoned him. Minato…what kind of mother am I?"

"Kushina, this is all my fault. It's me who is to blame because I never looked at him like a son. I'm a truly useless father."

Natsumi always thought about how she teased her big brother about their parents only loving her, but he never once complained to them. Oh, how she wished she could take back everything she said.

Then they left to look for Naruto, all of them sprinting from clan to clan. An hour later, Kushina stood in front of the Uchiha compound when she saw her best friend Mikoto, she started crying. Mikoto looked at her and let her come inside the compound.

"M-Mikoto, p-please tell me where Naruto is. I want to apologize to him; I failed him as a mother. I am really sorry but Mikoto please, if you know where he is, please tell me. I want to make it up to him."

Unfortunately for her, Mikoto had grown angry. Ever since Sasuke and Naruto met, they did almost everything together. In fact, Naruto would often sleepover at the Uchiha compound, considering his "family" had forgotten his existence. The Uchiha clan had treated Naruto like family. In fact, she wanted to adopt Naruto, to raise him as her own son, but such an action would remind the Namikaze family of his existence, something he pleaded with them not to do.

"Sorry, Ms. Uzumaki-Namikaze. I haven't seen Naruto. Now then, if you're done, you may leave."

Kushina wanted to fall apart after hearing that her best friend wouldn't support her when she had a missing child, but in the end, she left.

 **Hokage office,**

Minato sat in his office, impatiently waiting to get any news about Naruto. He had reviewed every file in the hospital about Naruto and it floored him to learn that his son really had stayed more times in the hospital than his home. He wanted to make a clone to beat himself up, but he needed to stay strong if he wanted to get his boy back.

He heard knocking on the door and saw a few ANBU soldiers. He looked at them with hopeful eyes but they shook their heads. Desperate, the Fourth Hokage called for a very urgent council meeting.

 **Council meeting hall,**

The civilian council, as well as the village elders, waited inside the huge hall for Minato. Why had their Hokage called for a meeting so early in the morning? Minato finally came inside his office, earning greetings from everyone.

"This meeting is very important, thanks for coming in on such short notice…Councilmen, elders; I've called you here to talk about my son." Minato would have spoken more, however a councilman decided to make his feelings about Naruto verbally clear.

"Oh for-what has that miserable demon done this time? I'll rid us of that brat, just wait." The moment he spoke, a punch knocked him unconscious. Everyone reeled in their seats, shocked that their leader would hit someone right in front of them. Before the civilian council could speak, their Hokage released an enormous amount of killer intent and everyone froze.

"Minato! What are you doing?" Homura yelled.

"He tried to kill my son! He should be thanking Kami that I didn't kill him right now!"

"But, lord Hokage, he is the reincarnation of the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon. Why are you calling him your son?" Minato went to attack the audacious civilian council member, but Hiashi and Fangaku stopped him before he could advance any further.

"Who told you he is that demon's reincarnation?" Hiashi asked his voice cold from disdain.

"No one told us, its common knowledge. He's every bit the demon that attacked us 12 years ago!"

"If no one told you, then how do you know whether or not he's a demon?" Fangaku asked, increasingly irritated with the attitude towards an innocent, abused, and neglected child.

"You're pretty stupid, aren't you? The whisker marks are all we need to know that the brat, whom the Fourth strangely calls his son, is none other than the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon in human flesh!" The civilian council member finished. All of the shinobi council looked at him in disbelief for his sheer stupidity. Hiashi and Fangaku nodded to each other and released Minato. The moment they released him, the Yellow Flash attacked every council member who called his son a demon. After some time, Minato regained control of himself and an ANBU carried the unconscious civilian council members to the hospital.

"Do you honestly believe that he is the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon reincarnated? The Third Hokage sealed it inside Natsumi and Kushina, and the day Naruto was born his chakra coils was destroyed. How could you come to the conclusion that he's the Nine Tails reborn?"

"But Lord Forth, what about those whisker marks?" A council member asked, desperate to justify their treatment of Naruto. When the Fourth turned an angry glare on him, he classified his argument as obsolete.

"Those are birth marks, Naruto can't use chakra, and the Nine Tails wasn't sealed inside him. Those who have hurt him will get proper punishment and, until further notice, the civilian council will no longer be part of the Hidden Leaf council meetings, is that clear?"

Several council members wanted to protest this decision, but the KI leaking from Minato shut them up good.

"Everyone is now dismissed." When Minato finally had the space to think by himself, he turned to the window in sadness.

" _Oh Naruto, where are you, my son? I really miss you. I don't deserve your forgiveness, but please come home so I can be the father to you that I should have been so many years ago."_

Minato ordered all ANBU and as many Jonin as he could to find his son and he labeled it an S class mission. Minato sensed his master so he turned towards Jiraiya.

"Minato, I was summoned by the elder toads. It's about the prophecy I told you of all those years ago."Jiraiya suddenly felt a strong punch in his gut, knocking him a few feet back.

"You bastard! I followed that damn prophecy and because of it, Naruto left us! I lost my son because of you, old man!"

Jiraiya would've retaliated physically, but he controlled himself.

"Minato, I indeed told you about the prophecy but it's not all my fault. Tell me, did I tell you to ignore or abandon him? I made the mistake of not supporting Naruto, but that doesn't make his absence my fault. You ignored him for your other child who possessed power, so it's you who should be guiltier than me." He started to leave then he stopped at the window to turn his head. "Before I leave, the prophecy has changed. The chosen child is not Natsumi."

With that, Jiraiya left a crying Minato in his office.

 **One week later,**

When Minato announced his son had gone missing; all of Naruto's friends stood in shock. Their friend, who always stood beside them, had left. They didn't need to know why, because they heard the announcement at the party.

"Naruto…he's gone?"

"How did he leave the village?"

"How would he survive?"

This news hurt Sasuke badly enough, but Hinata...she felt darkness overcome her life.

Hinata almost stopped breathing and collapsed. She woke up in the I. C. U. of the Hidden Leaf Hospital. Hiashi didn't know his daughter cared for the boy that much. Thankfully, the doctors saved her from her shock, but from that day on, Hinata never showed emotions. Her eyes froze solid, just as the Hyuga elders wanted; Hiashi, however, didn't like this change. He wanted her to become strong; he never wanted her cold and emotionless.

Kushina and Natsumi's conditions also deteriorated. They refused to stop looking for the second dandelion in their family. Both of them looked for any clue on Naruto so they could find him. They got nothing, Kushina hadn't eaten any food from the day when she found out Naruto ran away. She wanted to know everything about Naruto, so she went to the Hyuga compound and Uchiha compound.

They always slammed the door on her face.

Naruto's friends all started to avoid the Namikaze family, especially Natsumi.

One day, Kushina walked through the village towards the Uchiha compound when suddenly, she collapsed in the middle of the road. Mikoto happened to come passing through the market and saw a crowd. Curiosity getting the better of her, she went closer and saw her friend lying almost unconscious.

"Naruto, please come home, baby. Please come home to Mommy. I'm a horrible mother, but please, please forgive me."

Mikoto then grabbed her and dashed towards the hospital. She told the nearest Chunin to inform the Hokage. When Minato came in the hospital, he saw his wife sleeping on the bed then he turned to Tsunade.

"What happen to Kushina? Is she ok?"

It took every ounce of Tsunade's willpower not to slap Minato so hard that his neck would snap.

"Minato, there's an idiot and then there's just plain stupid. You're falling right in the middle. Your wife hasn't eaten in a week. She was looking for any information on the Naruto and thank Kami above that Mikoto was there in time, because if she was even a minute late, it would have been very hard for me to save her and the child." Minato stood in shock, happiness, and sadness at the same time. Happiness, because his wife had another child on the way, they would have a third child together. Unfortunately, it also served to remind them of how they failed their first child.

Unknown to them, Mikoto heard everything. She suddenly felt compelled to forgive them but they didn't need her forgiveness, they needed Naruto's.

" _Naruto, wherever you are, I pray that you're safe."_

Mikoto left the hospital and then she returned to the Uchiha compound where she told her family what happened from the market to the hospital. Despite everything, they congratulated the Namikaze family for having another child but they hoped that they would treat their new child very well, and not make the same mistake they made with Naruto.

They all agreed that they would help the Namikaze family find Naruto and ask him to give them a second chance. After a while, the Hyuga clan agreed to help as well. All except Hinata, who angrily refused to help or forgive the Namikaze family. She locked herself inside her room, crying for her crush. She could only hope that one day; he would come back for her.

 **With Kushina,**

When she got the news that she would have another child, joy coursed through her body, but her thoughts went back to Naruto, and she fell back into her grieving. She had yet to find her son and all these questions kept coursing through her head.

Where had her baby boy gone? Had he had anything to eat? How was he physically?

All these questions ran through Kushina's mind and when she started thinking about a malnourished Naruto trying to survive without the proper equipment, she became emotional and let out a mournful wail that commenced a new string of sobbing. Thankfully for her, Tsunade had come to care for her.

Tsunade never knew Naruto that well, and Minato had asked them to fill the role of godparents to their children, and she did…with the child that had chakra. She had no idea that Naruto had nearly died; she never knew whether or not he was in good health, let alone not dead. She felt horrible, knowing that she had failed her grandparents and her sensei by failing Naruto.

"Kushina, I know that you're happy and sad at the same time, but you have to take care of yourself because you are holding another life in your womb. You have to understand how important this is, not only for your soon to be third child, but for you and your family as well."

Kushina nodded her head and gave a weak but small smile.

"I know, Tsunade. I will take care of myself and my child." placing her hand on her womb "This time; I won't dare to play favorites. This child will know a mother's care, support, and love…just as I should have given…my…son."

Kushina began to cry yet again.

"Kushina, it's not all your fault. I also ignored him in favor of Natsumi. We really messed up things but we will change it for a better future." Kushina sniffed and nodded.

' _And perhaps the next time we encounter Naruto; we can beg him for his forgiveness.'_

Many people in the village wanted to disappear for what they did to Naruto. They felt an enormous weight of shame and guilt from their actions towards the neglected child. They didn't understand why the Fourth didn't just kill the brat, but now that they did, they promised to fall at Naruto's feet and beg for his forgiveness the next time they saw him.

No one would find, or hear word of him for the next three years.

 **Land of water,**

 **With Naruto,**

While everyone in the village suffered the pins and needles of regret and shame for what they did to Naruto, said boy sat next to his new teacher, eating his favorite food of all time; ramen. He had already devoured ten straight bowls, but when he looked towards Ryu, his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

100 or so more bowls of ramen still remained to ingest.

The chef had worked himself to exhaustion and collapsed, so when they ate their fill, Ryu paid the bill and signaled to Naruto for them to go.

When they were walking, Naruto noticed a few kids playing with their friends. He felt sad, for not too long ago, he had known such happiness. Naruto's dampened mood did not escape his master's eye.

"Hey Naruto, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Master Ryu."

"You know, kiddo, you really suck at hiding your emotions."

Naruto then hung his head and stopped walking.

"I just…remember my friends, Master Ryu. I just want to be with them; they were there for me even when my parents weren't. I have no chakra; my coils were destroyed when I was born. Despite that, they expected nothing from me in return when they helped me. I probably wouldn't have a reason to live without my friends. I just feel sad because I left without telling them."

"Naruto, I know you love your friends, but remember why you wanted to grow stronger, why you wanted power in the first place. You told me you wanted to power to protect your friends. I can understand that you think you're betraying their trust because of not telling them but if they're as good to you as you say they are, then they'll understand and support you 100 percent. That's what friends are for, right?"

Naruto, tears rolling down his face, only nodded his head. Ryu gave his student a bright smile and ruffled his pupil's hair softly.

"Friends can understand each other, even if they don't speak to each other, right?"

"That's right! I understand them and they understand me because they're not just my friends, they're my family!"

"I'm glad you understand that. You know, Naruto, your friends not only care for and love each other, but they care for and love you. As long as you want to get stronger for them, you can do anything."

"Master Ryu, can I know where we're going?" Naruto asked. A small glint in Ryu's eyes sent shivers down his spine.

" _Why do I think I'm going to regret this decision?"_

"We're going to an island where we can start your training so you can become strong."

Ryu then grabbed Naruto and vanished from the Land of Water without a trace. The next thing, Naruto knew, he and Ryu stood on a snow-capped island. Naruto stood in shock as he just stared at Ryu.

"Well Naruto, this is where we're going to train for a few months. Your training will start tomorrow."

Naruto began to dread the physical labor and how loud his body would scream at him, but the prospective reaction of his friends and parents to his strength made him exuberant.

" _I'll become strong enough to protect everyone!"_

 _Thanks for reading,  
_

 _Special thanks to MODdenial  
_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **this chapter is reedited**

 **Time skip: 4 Years.**

 **Daytime in the Hidden Leaf Village,**

 **Ninja academy,**

In class, a vibrant atmosphere filled the room. Some students sat and spoke with each other, others decided to use the time they had to catch some more Zs.

However, a raven-haired boy sat away from the others, alone in his own thoughts. Everyone knew this raven-haired boy as Sasuke Uchiha, the most famous and strongest male kid in academy. Hestood at 4'5", age 12, with black eyes and hair, and a lean built for flexibility and speed. His skin had slightly paled over the years. Sasuke Uchiha had grown a bit reserved over the years and he would only occasionally speak to his friends for the other clans. However, he held great disdain for the current Hokage's clan, especially its only daughter.

Like Sasuke, many of the academy students considered Natsumi Uzumaki-Namikaze the most famous and strongest girl in academy. She hadn't changed that much over the period of 4 years. Though, her figure had become more defined and she had long red hair that stretched down to her waist. Like her missing older brother, he had crystal blue eyes, but stood at 4'2". At 12 years old, both Sasuke and Natsumi rivaled each other for title of Rookie of the Year.

Another girl in their class had a very cold exposition with a face of no emotion. This face belonged to Hinata Hyuga. Her appearance had also changes. She had grown into quite the beautiful young lady, with hypnotic lavender eyes, short blue hair and pearl white skin. She stood at 4'3" and had recently turned 12 years old. Her figure had a few unnoticeable curves, but she had an emotionless face. When her friend/crush left the village all those years ago, she had all but lost the compassion for others she held as a child. However, she did possess a nicety that she only gave to her friends.

Rock Leegraduated for the academy a year earlier than all his friends. Choji, Shikamaru, Shino, all of them had changed. They still hung out, but without their dandelion, a hollow noise echoed during the time they spent together. Today, however, they couldn't dwell intensely on him.

Today would decide their fates as to whether they remain in the academy, or finally begin their careers as ninja.

The students faced three different sections of tests; starting with taijutsu, moving to proficiency with ninja tools, and ending with academy ninjutsu. For the taijutsu portion, they would have to fight Mizuki with time limit of 5 min. In order to pass, they needed to hit Mizuki 3 times in those 5 minutes.

Hinata went first. She went to her traditional Hyuga Gentle Fist stance and Mizuki dropped into his basic academy stance.

Hinata dashed towards Mizuki and started to attack him with rapid palm thrusts and kicks but Mizuki blocked her every attack. She then kicked him low, making him stumble and thrust a palm forward, aiming for his heart but luckily for the academy instructor. His leg buckled a bit and he got a hit to the chin. Mizuki rubbed his chin and got a bit annoyed but give her a smile and they restarted their battle. She hit Mizuki 3 times in 1 minute and 5 seconds.

Kiba of the Inuzuka clan went next. He hit Mizuki 3 times in 1 minute and 50 seconds. The fights continued on and a majority of the prospective graduates passed.

Natsumi went next. Her fan boys started cheering for her even before she entered the ring. She used her family's stance and Mizuki once again fought in his basic academy stance.

Unlike the first two competitors, he rushed at her first and aimed a punch at her face. However, she sidestepped it and aimed a punch at his gut. Mizuki blocked it with his left hand. Natsumi then rotated to the left and connected an elbow with Mizuki's ribs. After recovering from that hit, he smiled at her and they recommenced their fight. Within 1 minute and 5 seconds, she hit the academy proctor 3 times.

Last, but definitely not least, Sasuke Uchiha went up. When he entered the ring, every fan girl of his and even a few boys started to cheer him on. Then he got into his family stance and Mizuki was as usual basic stance.

Sasuke dashed forward to Mizuki with extraordinary speed. She released a rapid volley of punches at Mizuki, but the proctor blocked every punch. Sasuke then jumped and kick at Mizuki face, only to catch his arm. Sasuke spun in midair and aimed kick at Mizuki's right side. It hurt enough to send him a few meters away from him, then Mizuki started to attack Sasuke, but with a bit more aggression than for the young Uchiha, he successfully evaded his attacks and then kicked Mizuki low, causing him to lose his balance. Sasuke used this advantage to move for another attack. He punched Mizuki in the chest, making him fall, and finished with an elbow to the gut, completing his 3 hits in 56 seconds!

Everyone stood in shock at the Uchiha making a new academy record.

Choji, Shikamaru, and Shino did very good in taijutsu. Despite Shikamaru's laziness, he successfully hit Mizuki in the span of 3 minutes of the allotted 5.

After taijutsu came ninja tool profiency. To pass, students needed to throw 10 shuriken and 10 kunai knifes at a log post. Hinata went first. She scored 18 points. Natsumi went next. She scored 19 points. Sasuke came up. He threw all weapons in the dead center of the log post, earning a perfect score of 20 points.

They all stood in shock. Natsumi, the only daughter of the Fourth Hokage, scoring less than the Uchiha? Well, if you said like that, it didn't seem so unlikely. If only they knew how much dedication and effort Sasuke put into his training.

Finally, the last section. Academy ninjutsu. The proctors would assess the students' ability to perform a transformation jutsu, a replacement jutsu, and a clone jutsu.

It resulted in a 3-way tie between Sasuke, Natsumi and Hinata in basic jutsu. Sasuke won Rookie of the Year, but because Natsumi outperformed Hinata in the ninja tool portion, she won Kunoichi of the Year.

Every fan girl cheered at the top of their lungs for Sasuke, but he paid them no mind. He had only one goal in mind: bringing his best friend, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, back to the Hidden Leaf Village, all while beating some sense into him for going AWOL.

Unbeknownst to him, Natsumi had a similar goal. She wanted to bring her brother back as well. Even if he didn't have chakra, she needed him home with her, her parents, and her younger sister. A family can't function without all its members present.

Hinata also wanted to find Naruto herself. After the news of Naruto's departure got to the village, she grew cold. So cold, in fact, that her coldness gave shivers to anyone who crossed her, even her father. Hiashi looked on, fearful for his daughter. She had become strong, to his prideful delight, but her change in attitude greatly concerned him. She didn't deserve to have an expression that cold in her young age. He did everything he could to cheer her up, but the only would could, he realized, no longer lived in their village. When Hinata lay alone in her room, she would always cry herself to sleep as she held onto a picture of a smiling Naruto throwing his two fingers at the camera, while Hinata buried her face in the crook of his neck.

To sum it up, the Hidden Leaf Village, for better or for worse, needed Naruto back within their walls.

 **Hidden Leaf Village, Outside the Academy**

 **With Natsumi,**

Natsumi came outside and saw her mother and her 3-year-old little sister, Mito, and then she dashed towards them and hugged them. Kushina and Mito returned the hug.

"Big sister, you ninja now! That's so cool!" Mito squealed with stars in her eyes.

"Yep, not only did I pass, but I also became the Kunoichi of the Year. I really wanted to win Rookie of the Year, though…" Natsumi pouted at the end.

"Natsumi, these titles are just for encouragement for students so they will show their best of their ability. It wouldn't have mattered whether you won Rookie or Kunoichi of the Year or not, you and Mito will be always my little princesses."

"Thanks mom. Hey, now that I'm a ninja, I can find my big brother and bring him back home." Natsumi grinned determinedly.

When Kushina heard Natsumi's determined statement to bring Narutoback, she hung her head. Kushina couldn't help but remind herself how she failed Naruto as a mother but then she looked at Natsumi, who shared her own sad look. She didn't want to daughter to lose heart.

"Natsumi, I know you'll find him, protect him and bring him home, but to find him and protect him, you need to become strong. For now, it's time to celebrate your graduation! How about some ramen?" Natsumi and Mito jumped with joy when they heard about her favorite food and all three started to walk towards a ramen stand.

 **Ichiraku's Ramen**

The trio of mother and daughters sat down on the stools as they placed their orders to Ayame, the chef's daughter. When they received their food, both Kushina and Natsumi started to eat very fast but Mito simply stared at her ramen. Kushina didn't fail to notice her younger daughter's seemingly lost appetite, so she stopped eating and ask with concern.

"Dear, what happened? Are you ill?"

"Mommy…I wanted to ask…about big brother…what was he like?" Kushina just stared at Mito with a sad look on her face but said nothing so Natsumi, understanding the situation, attempted to cap Mito's curiosity about their great failure.

"Mito, please don't ask mother questions right now."

"No, I want to know about big brother now! Tell me now! Tell me now! Tell me now! Tell me now! Tell me now!"

Like any child would while throwing a tantrum, Mito started waving her arms angrily. Hearing a child continuously ask for something reminded her of Naruto. This depressed an already bogged Kushina even more.

"Mito…I know you want to know about your brother, but I-it's just that…I don't have any special memories of Naruto at all. I know a minute amount about him, he was young, he somewhat looked like your father and was always full of energy. He did everything he could to get attention from everyone, especially from your father and me…I'm sorry Mito, but…I don't know anything more than that about him" Kushina etched out as hung her head low and tears started to come from her eyes. Mito immediately felt bad for acting like she did a moment ago.

"I'm sorry, mother. I just wanted to know about him. Whenever someone talks about him, you and dad become sad. Did he do something wrong? Is that why he isn't here with us?"

"Mito, I want you listen carefully, okay? Naruto hasn't done anything wrong in his life. Your father and I…we're the main reason he's not with us."

Mito reeled slightly, shocked that her mother would say such a thing. Whenever someone from the clans said anything bad about her mom or dad, she would call them names and call her parents "The best parents in the whole world."

"I don't know what got into me. Mito, your older brother was born different from us. Because of that, we neglected him. But I promise you, dear, when your sister brings him home, she, your father and I will make it up to him and then we will be a happily whole family once again."

Mito saw the determined look in her mother's eyes. Satisfied, she started eating ramen like both Natsumi and Kushina. When the Red Hot Habanero saw both of her daughters eating, a lone tear fell from her eye.

" _Naruto, my sweet child, wherever you are, I truly hope you're safe."_

 **Hokage office,**

Minato stared down the piles of paperwork that lay on his desk. Four years ago, he would have cursed the Third's name for leaving this much paperwork for him to do, but given everything happened in the past four years, he viewed the paperwork as a blissfully distracting stress distracted him from the pain he'd feel everyday from not finding his son in his bed, his hospital, or at any of the clan houses. Not that they'd let him in, given his failure as a father to the past four years, he'd sent every available Shinobi for the search mission to find his son, but every time the Shinobi come empty handed. No one knew the whereabouts of his son; no one had the slightest clue.

Naruto had simply vanished.

Minato looked towards his desk saw himself, his wife, and his oldest daughter holding his youngest daughter. Minato didn't see it as a family portrait. He then turned his gaze towards another photo. A two-year-old Naruto smiled brightly, Natsumi wrapped her arms around her brother's neck, Kushina leaned contently towards him and he smiled as wide as an ocean. Naruto would never appear in another photo with his family. In fact, Naruto would never appear in another photo, period.

After looking for some time, he thought back to what he said to his son at the tender age of 4 years old…

" _ **The moment you were born; your chakra coils were destroyed beyond repair. That's why you can't train with us. You're worthless, Naruto."**_

Minato ground his teeth, his self-loathing reaching a new high. How could he say something like to a member of his village, a child? His child? Minato would never forget those horrible words he said to his son, nor the shattered look that appeared on his son's face while he said. When he needed them most, they were never there for him and it always pained him.

Then the nightmares came. Oh Kami above, those nightmares.

It ranged from Naruto running after his family while they grew further away to Minato watching in horror as the villagers attacked him with everything they could grab their hands on, from mops to clubs, even swords. With every cry of "Mommy!" or "Daddy!" Minato felt his throat tighten. As the man of the house and leader of the village, he couldn't cry in front of his family and friends so they can have hope that Naruto will come back. However, when he had space to himself and no one could hear him. He broken down, crying, screaming at himself for failing his son. If Naruto walked though that room, slugged Minato in the face, and disowned him as his father. On the Third's name, he swore he wouldn't lift a finger in defense. In Naruto wanted to beat him so badly, he wouldn't be able to walk right, he'd take the hits with a smile on his face, knowing that his son had come home.

" _Naruto…I miss you, my son. Wherever you are, search your heart, please. I know you'll find it in your heart to come home and the moment you walk through those doors, I'll be damned if we do anything to even resemble neglect towards you."_

 **Unknown place,**

"Achoo…man I think I have gotten a cold. Either that, or someone's thinking about me."

This statement came from a boy with spiky hair, sitting at a mountain top for meditation in a blizzard. His teacher observed him from a few miles away and smiles at his student.

" _The time has come for him to show the world what he can do."_

 **Hidden Leaf Village, the following day,**

The room buzzed with the intensity of a beehive. Everyone kept speaking about how they wanted to get on a team with Sasuke (girls) or Natsumi (boys). All of Naruto's friends arrived early because they had too much excitement to simply stay at home and wait. Natsumi walked into the class and took a seat near Hinata. She really wanted to talk to Hinata but the newly crowned ice queen always ignored her and walked away from her. Of course, Hinata didn't solely ignore Natsumi. She wanted nothing to do with the entire Namikaze family, except for one, the only son of the family.

The door openedto reveal a man with brown hair, tied back in a ponytail. Iruka Umino loved helping students and almost everyone had favorable reviews as an instructor. However, he did get irritated easily. A plethora of students continued to talk despite knowing that he had entered the room. As such, he cleared his throat to alert them of his presence, to no avail. He tried it again but got the same results. As a result, a red tick mark formed on his head and he performed a special jutsu used only for crowd control, namely children.

Big Head Jutsu.

"SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY!"

Just like that, the entire class went silent, save for a small cough.

"Alright everyone, listen carefully because now I will announce your squads and your team leaders, all of whom are jonin. Several teams will be in rotation and as such, they will receive no new team members or instructors. Team 1, rotation. Team 2, rotation. Team 3, rotation. Team 4, rotation. Team 5, rotation. Team 6, rotation. Team 7, you will be made up of…Sakura Haruno…"

The pink-haired kunoichi looked up at the sound of her name.

"Natsumi Uzumaki Namikaze…"

Both girls kept their eyes on Iruka with bated breath as the last name was called.

"…and Sasuke Uchiha."

Sakura shot from her seat and shouted out with joy. She turned to her classmate, rival, and former best friend, Ino Yamanaka with a victorious smirk, who responded with a scornful sneer. Natsumi turned to Sasuke and she could tell he didn't like this arrangement at all. Sasuke didn't like, or care for, Natsumi, or anyone from Naruto's family, considering they practically pushed him towards the gates to nowhere.

"Your team leader will be Kakashi Hatake. Team 8, will consist of members Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga. Your team leader will be Kurenai Yuhi."

Shino nodded to Hinata. She had enough of her childish kindness to give Shino a small smile.

"Team 9, rotation. Team 10, will consists of members Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. Your team leader will be Asuma Sarutobi."

Ino, the blond with near pupil-less eyes, bemoaned the fact that her squad consisted of a "lazy bum" and "a fatty".

"After lunch, your team leaders will pick you up. I wish you all successful and happy lives as ninja of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

 **3 hours after lunch**

Sasuke, Natsumi and Sakura all sat in the academy room, waiting for their team leader. The nerve of their teacher to show up late had started to tick them off. Suddenly, the door of classroom opened, revealing a man with gravity-defying white hair, a face mask, and a headband that covered his left eye.

"Well…I can tell you all this right now. I'm looking a bunch of sticks in the mud. Meet me on the roof in 10 minutes."

Their team leader had just said that they all suck. They immediately had no love for him. Regardless, they all made their way to the rooftops. When everyone had gathered, their instructor asked them to tell him about all look puzzled.

"How should we go about introducing ourselves, sensei?"

"Hmm…list some things you like, some things you don't like, some hobbies of yours, and your dreams for the future."

"Maybe you could start us off?"

"Alright. My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes and dislikes…are none of your concern. My dreams for the future…I don't really have one, to be honest. Hobbies…I have a lot of hobbies."

" _So we only know his name."_ All three genin thought.

"Now tell me about yourselves, starting with you, pinky."

"Alright, my name is Sakura Haruno, I like…" She looks at Sasuke and blushes. "My hobbies include…" Another look at Sasuke and her blush deepens. "My dreams for the future are…" This time, she squeals into her hands. "I hate that filthy pig, Ino!"

" _Excellent, a fan-girl. Why do I have to handle a fan-girl?"_ Kakashi sighed mentally. "Okay, now you, with the red hair."

"My name is Natsumi Uzumaki Namikaze; I like my family and ramen. I dislikes include fanboys, fangirls, and perverts." She gave Kakashi a critical eye, causing him to sweat. "My hobbies include playing with my friends, training with my family, and my dreams for the future are to find my big brother and make my family complete again."

" _Ah, that's right. She's Naruto's sister."_ Kakashi tuned in just in time to hear Sasuke scoff. "Alright, how about you?"

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I love my family and I like my friends. I hate a few **certain** people. My hobbies are training with my family and learning different jutsu of the fire style. What I have is not a dream. Rather, it is destiny. There's someone I've sworn to bring back to the village and make him wish he hadn't left."

" _Again, Naruto. It makes sense. From what I hear, the two are best friends, almost brothers."_

"So, Kakashi-sensei, what will be our first mission?" Kakashi's eye widened slightly before he started to chuckle. "What's wrong, sensei? Why are you chuckling?"

"Of all the teams who take this test, only nine genin will be selected so the chances of your failure are at 66% and those who fail will be sent back to the academy." That shocked all three genin.

"Then why did we even go through the graduation exam in the first place?!"

"It was to see who looked worthy of becoming genin. This test is to prove you're good enough to remain genin. Meet me tomorrow at training ground 7 at 6 in the morning so we can begin our of advice: don't eat breakfast if you don't want your food bounce in your stomach." With that, he vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the three genin into think about the test.

 **Time skip Bell Test,**

 **Hokage office,**

When Squad Seven formed, they received instructions for the first mission; find Tora, the pet cat of the fire lord's wife. When they concluded that mission, Natsumi appealed to her father for a harder mission so they could experience some real battles, and not just run around the village doing chores. A rather long argument ensued, but Minato agreed to give them a C rank mission. Natsumi and her team looked really excited about it so Minato told the client to come inside. The door slid open and revealed a drunken old man with gray hair, mustache and beard with a large backpack.

"Are you kidding me? You're placing my well-being in the hands of a bunch of brats? They don't look capable at all, especially…" The old drunk paused as he pointed from Sakura to Natsumi. "These two. The midget with red hair and a dumb face and that pink-haired fangirl with a big forehead."

At that comment, everyone chuckled but Sakura and Natsumi. They went to attack him but Kakashi held them back by the scruff of their uniforms.

"Calm down, you two. No killing or harming the client, remember?"Both girls reigned in their anger and settled for glaring at the old man.

"I am master bridge builder Tazuna, I want to go back to my country and make a bridge for the betterment of our lives. Therefore, you will protect me, even if it costs your life." The old man said with smirk.

Suddenly, the window of the mission distribution office opened and a man come from window and headed right to the Hokage. Never, in the past four years, had Minato seen Jiraiya as seriousbefore then. He handed Minato a scroll and when he opened it and read it, his eyes widened. Minato looked up at Jiraiya who gave him a big smile. The next thing anyone knew, the Fourth Hokage had wrapped his arms around one of the Sannin in a tight hug. At the same time, the door behind team 7 opened, revealing Minato's wife, Kushina and their youngest child, Mito.

"Thank you for this, you for finding my son."Minato etched out. As soon as Kushina heard "my son", she sprinted towards Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya, you found my son? Is he ok? Where is he?" She asked with tears in her eyes.

Everyone in the room stood in shock and happiness with the exception of Tazuna, who had no idea why the Hokage and the red haired woman seemed to glow in happiness, and Sakura, whose mother drilled it into her that the Nine Tailed Fox Demon that attacked them twelve years ago lives in Naruto, making him a demon. Sakura's mother always warned her to stay away from him, so she put a scowl on her looked at her parents in surprise when she heard that someone had finally found her big brother. She would finally get to see the brother she always wanted. The one who will play with her. The one who would tell her a bed time story, just like she saw many kids with their brothers. She just wanted to spend time with her brother. For some strange reason, she felt like her brother played a very big part of her life.

Kushina kept asking so many questions and Jiraiya couldn't even get a word in edgewise, so he turned to his student for help.

"Kushina, darling, why don't you give him the chance to speak, or say something."

"To tell you the truth, I'm not too sure if he's your son, Minato, but his feature matches with Naruto's, so there's a good chance he might be your son. Don't worry, he's not travelling alone. The identity of his companion, however, remains unknown. My spy network wasn't able to find who he is with because no one has ever seen him, not even in a bingo book. However, we have spotted them near the Land of Waves, so I think we should send some high ranking ninja for Naruto's retrieval mission."

"I will go for Naruto's retrieval mission" Kushina announced. "I need this, Minato. I haven't seen our son in 4 years; I refuse to wait any longer. I will go to the Land of Waves and comeback with him because he is our son. It's the absolute least I can do…as a mother." Kushina said leaving no space for argument so Minato accepted it.

"I understand, love, but who will take care of Mito in meantime?"

"She will be with Tsunade so we have no need to worry."

Kushina then ran to the Namikaze estate as fast as she could and headed straight to the house for her battle gear. At the same time, Minato looked at team 7. "You will follow your original to escort Mr. Tazuna to the Land of Waves, however team 8 will accompany you and one more thing, don't tell anyone about Naruto right now." At that comment, Sasuke gave scowled at Minato, who flinch at that response, but said nothing.

"Team, meet me at the gate in 1 will leave for the Land of Waves along with team 8." With that, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke. Mito then walks towards her father.

"Daddy, hasmy big brother really been found?"

"That's right, sweetheart. Your big brother has been found. Now it's time for your mother and sister to bring him home." Minato said as he smiled in true happiness for the first time in four years.

 **Namikaze compound,**

Natsumi also dashed towards home to see her mother packing her things for the mission.

"Mom, did that Pervy sage really find Naruto?" She asked hopefully.

"Well, he did say there is a high chance that the kid is Naruto, that doesn't necessarily mean it's him. My heart, however, tells me that my son has been found, and I will bring him back no matter what, that's a promise." Kushina spoke determinedly and started to leave but not before kissing Natsumi forehead and wishing her good luck on her own mission.

 **Uchiha compound,**

Right after Kakashi told team to meet at gate in 1 hour, Sasuke dashed towards home with a literal spring in his step.

"Father, mother, big brother, please come!"

They all came to the living room quickly.

"Guess what, that old pervert Jiraiya finally found Naruto. Now we can bring him back home!" The three gathered in front of Sasuke grew smiles big enough to split the ocean. The boy they saw as one of their own has returned!

Sasuke turned to Itachi. "Brother, please go to the Hokage. Ask him to be part of Naruto's retrieval mission. You're the only one who I can trust to bring him home."Itachi nodded, knowing how much Sasuke cared for his best friend. Suddenly, an ANBU Black Op soldier with a crow mask appeared in the window.

"Itachi Uchiha, the Hokage requests you in his office immediately."

Itachi nodded and left with the crow masked ANBU for the Hokage tower. When they arrived in front of the Hokage office, the ANBU knocked on the door.

"Come in." Minato called. Itachi and the crow ANBU walked into see two ninja already prepared for the retrieval ANBU with a cat mask and Kushina herself, dressed in her jonin outfit before she went on maternal leave.

"You called me, Lord Hokage?"

"Yes Itachi. You will accompany Kushina, Cat and Crow for the Land of Waves to findNaruto and bring him home to the Hidden Leaf Village. You will leave in half an hour." Itachi just bowed to Minato and left the Hokage's office.

 **Haruno residence,**

When Sakura arrived home, her parents welcomed her with hugs and kisses.

"How was your day, Sakura?"

"It was wonderful, mother dear. Thanks in part to Natsumi; we've received our first C rank mission! That means I can spend time out of the village with my Sasuke." She sighed, with hearts in eyes.

"Excellent, my dear. Do your best and capture Sasuke's heart. Make him marry you so we can become rich." Sakura's mother spoke in approval. However, when Sakura's face turned sour, her mother tilted her head in confusion. "What's wrong, my dear?"

"I also have bad news, mother. The demon has been found, alive. The fourth Hokage's wife is going on a mission for his retrieval."

Sakura's mother scowled as well.

"Do not fear, daughter. Just focus on making Sasuke fall for you. I will make sure that the demon brat dies before he even sees the village gates." Sakura nodded and went to her room to prepare.

 _'As for you, Kushina, you ruined my every plan I had to make Minato mine. However, I will make sure you and your demon spawn die before you can return. I have to contact that mummy and that snake bastard so they can kill them both.'_ Sakura's mother thought, while her husband just shook his head.

 _'Even in the face of overwhelming proof, she still thinks that little child is the Nine Tailed fox demon. As much as I love her, if the Hokage finds out what she's up to, God have mercy on her…because we all know Minato won't.'_ thought Sakura's father.

 **At the gate,**

 **Teams 7 and 8**

Hinata arrived first, followed by Sasuke. The two genin had remained good friends throughout Naruto's absence, though they didn't see each other as often. The boy wanted to tell Hinata that the old pervert, Jiraiya, found Naruto but his father and mother warned him against it.

"Don't tell her now, son. Let her know during the mission."

As such, he controlled himself from telling her but his face shone with such excitement, it nearly outshone the sun. Hinata noticed his excitement, yet said nothing. After some time, all the genin for this mission had arrived and soon, both jonin and Tazuna come towards gate.

So when everything was set they started to walk, after some time Kiba started blabbing about how he is alpha male and better than Sasuke, for that he got punch to the head from Sakura. When they were walking Kakashi, Kurenai, Sasuke, and Natsumi, Hinata and Shino saw puddle of water [A/n Hinata is stronger in this fic.] And concluded it is an ambush so they got prepared for an attack.

All of sudden two ninja come from that pond and attack Kakashi and Kurenai who got caught in there chain and was ripped into pieces, when Sakura saw this she scream and froze into place and Kiba just wet his pants and yelp like a puppy. Then one of them attacks Sakura and Kiba and one went to attack Tazuna but were stopped by Sasuke, Natsumi, Hinata and Shino. And they tied them down when they were finished tying them, Kakashi and Kurenai come out from the bushes.

When Sakura and Kiba saw them they yelp in surprised and said "sensei but you were dead!" turning to where they saw their sensei was dead, but they saw only few log paces. Then Sasuke looked at Kiba and talked with mocking tone "so much for alpha male" then Kiba growl "why you." But stopped by Kurenai "stop it Kiba we are here on mission so just behave like ninja." "Yes sensei" was Kiba's answer.

When this conversation going on Kakashi was interrogating two ninjas, then Natsumi ask to Kakashi "sensei who are these ninjas?" then Kakashi reply "these two are the mist ninja and also known as demon brothers who are specialize for nonstop battle even if they have to die. But I think these two was after our client" Looking at Tazuna with visible eye who was sweating like hell, after 5 min of staring Tazuna sigh, and started to tell about gato and his plan to take over wave country for his illegal work.

Then Kakashi look at his students, their faces shows determination well except for Sakura who was as usual fan girl attitude, then he look at Kurenai for approval she nodded her head in approval then Kakashi look at Tazuna and said "alright we will continue the mission to the end." Tazuna was dancing in his mind.

 **Land of Waves,**

After that they started to move towards wave country, in that duration they were not attacked by any ninja or by any Gatos men. When they reach port they saw one man was waiting for Tazuna and leaf ninjas to get them other side. When they reached other side he leaves them and vanish in the mist. After some time walk Kiba threw kunai in the bushes thinking it's an enemy ninja and Sakura started to yell at him.

But to others (except Tazuna who was also freaked out by sudden attack) stared at that side they saw white snow rabbit 'snow rabbit but it is spring time, could it be ambush?' there thought was interrupted by Kakashi "everyone duck, it's an ambush" when they duck a massive sword was passed above their head and stabbed in the tree.

When they saw who throw the sword they saw a man early thirties standing on the sword with ninja pants headband of mist village with pale skin and macular body and bandages wrap around his mouth to cover his face then Kakashi spoke "the demon of hidden mist Zabuza mamochi" "thanks, I think I m well known in konoha too and it's pleasure to meet you Kakashi of the sharingan eye and genjutsu mistress of konoha Kurenai."

Then Kiba started to run towards enemy but stopped by both Kurenai and Kakashi then Kakashi spoke "everyone make a manji formation and protect Tazuna when I told you about team work, this is time to put your real team work" all six genin was circling around Tazuna to protect him.

Then Kakashi put his hand on left side of eye and spoke "if you are my opponent then I need this!" reliving his left eye, then Zabuza spoke "ah! Right sharingan eye, the man copied over thousand jutsu right Kakashi?"

Kakashi just stared at him, then Zabuza spoke "well if you want to fight then I will just kill you all" with that said he shunshin and appear standing on river and make hand signs then mist started to appear, mist was getting thicker and thicker and visibility was going low and soon they feel a massive killer intent then Kakashi and Kurenai flared a bust of chakra and look at Sakura who was terrified by the killer intent and spoke "Sakura I will not let my comrades die."

Then they heard Zabuza's voice "ah! Where I can hit first lung, kidney, spinal cord, eyes, brain, neck" then suddenly Zabuza was between all six genins who was little terrified before Zabuza could swing his sword it was stopped by Kakashi who stabbed him in chest and second kunai in throat by Kurenai but it was water clone and then Zabuza appear backside of Kakashi and swing his sword and cut Kakashi in half and deep cut in Kurenai's stomach who fell backward catching her stomach but when they saw Kakashi was cut in half they heard sound of splash of water it was water clone.

Then Zabuza thought bit shocked 'he was able to see through that' Kakashi was holding kunai against Zabuza's throat and spoke "this is end Zabuza" then Kurenai come to aid Kakashi catching her stomach but then Zabuza spoke "is it really true" and Zabuza turn into a water and Zabuza emerge from backside of both of them and kicking them into the river where real Zabuza make hand signs and trapped them in **"water prison jutsu."**

Then Zabuza make hand sign and make water clone and started to walk towards Tazuna all the genin was freaked out but then they heard Kakashi "everyone get Tazuna and run as long as you can, water clone can't go long distant from real body so just run he is out of your league."

Then Natsumi spoke "sensei you told us about the rule when you pass us, those who break the rule are scum but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. so we will never abandon our comrades then she and Sasuke launch towards Zabuza clone Natsumi use shadow clone jutsu and attack Zabuza head on who blasted them off but then Sasuke threw a demon wind mill shuriken and threw at Zabuza clone but it passed him and was heading for real Zabuza who dough it barely but it transform into Natsumi and she throw few kunai at Zabuza who was forced to leave both jonin from water prison.

Zabuza was pissed and ready kill Natsumi but was stopped by Kakashi who was also very pissed then they make distance and Zabuza was running through hand sings and Kakashi was mimicking Zabuza, first Kakashi copy Zabuza's **"water dragon jutsu"** and manipulate Zabuza in genjutsu who got confused but before he could do something he was hit by blast of water and hit the tree finally Zabuza was defeated and pinned to the tree but before Kakashi could kill Zabuza three senbons comes and hit Zabuza on neck and killing him on the spot.

A hunter ninja come and thanks Kakashi doing his work and vanish with Zabuza then Kakashi got exhausted and collapse because excessive use of chakra and Kurenai was also unconscious because of blood loss Hinata was treating Kurenai with her bit medical knowledge she have and stopped her bleeding and Kurenai was out of danger but she need rest.

When they come to Tazuna's house they were greeted by pretty leady "father you alright? And what happen to these two?" then Tazuna spoke "They protected me from dying and got bit exhausted can you prepare room for them? tsunami" tsunami nodded and left after sometime Kakashi awake and greeted by people and after some conversation Kakashi spoke "guys Zabuza is still alive" Tazuna was freaked out "hey, didn't you see yourself that guy was dead" "yes, I did check but that was temporary death but the good news is he won't attack at least a weak. So now your training will start" spoke to all of them

Then Kiba spoke "Kakashi sensei what about Kurenai sensei? Will she be alright by that time?" "Yes, she will be fine but she needs rest" was Hinata's reply. Kiba was dancing inside his mind because Hinata spoke to him directly to him now Hinata will be his was his thought.

Then Sakura spoke "Kakashi sensei how you can teach us when you are laying yourself?" "I am just exhausted that's all, but I can still teach you." And Kakashi take them all in the woods for training.

Thanks for reading,

Special thanks to MODdenial,

Have a nice day.


	5. Chapter 5

**This chap** **ter is rewritten**

 **With** **Minato** **,**

A few days have passed since Minato received word of his son, Naruto. A roaring battle of emotions stormed inside the Fourth Hokage. His son had not perished, thanks to his companion. That made him happy. However, deep inside, he still felt guilty for failing his son and shirking his duty to him as a father. As bleak as Naruto's chances seemed, considering he didn't have a lick of chakra, he still wanted his son to have a good life. The Third Hokage sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox and its chakra inside of Natsumi, and in fear of her not having good control when she grew up, he gave her more attention than she needed at that time and Naruto grew more and more distant until one day...he just vanished from his mind.

Well, he would change that. When he found Naruto or when Naruto returned to him, he would do everything he could to make things right with his son. He didn't entertain a fantasy of Naruto forgiving him easily.

He just hoped that time would heal the damages he caused.

 **With Kushina,**

Kushina hopped from branch to branch, searching high and low, looking for any sign of Naruto. A few days have passed and they still haven't found him. However, this time, Kushina would not go back to the Hidden Leaf Village without her little her husband, Kushina had a battle of emotions going on inside her as well.

Annoyance, worry, and happiness.

After 4 long years, she would finally get to meet her son again. However, she had an instinct that made her apprehensive. Well, no instinct would get in between her and finding her son. The three anbu who tailed her barely had any energy to continue. They've searched up and down, high and low for Naruto, without any breaks. Still, they didn't complain. After all, Itachi and Seisui saw Naruto as their little brother, and even if Yūgao didn't talk much to Naruto, she knew Naruto had a heart of immense kindness.

 **With Mito,**

Mito could barely contain her excitement. She would finally see her dream come true. She would finally get to meet her big brother. She always dreamt about her brother; how he would take care of her, play with her, and love her. Even if she had a sister who did all that, she just wanted to have a big brother to brag to her friends. She would tell them about her big brother's strength and how he would beat up mean guys for her.

She didn't know why she felt that way, but she liked it that way. Ever since her younger days, she just hoped that her brother would accept her as his little sister. Though with hope came a small bit of fear.

" _What if...what if my big brother doesn't accept me?"_

 **Land of Waves**

 **One week later,** **a** **t the bridge...**

When Tazuna and everyone looked on the bridge and saw dead bodies of Tazuna's friends and workers, he fell to his knees in despair. Then mist slowly started to appear.

"Kakashi-sensei, this is Zabuza's Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Sakura announced.

"Everyone, protect Tazuna! We guard him with our lives, understand?"

"That's right, you have to die first!" Zabuza spoke gruffly and they saw ten Zabuza clones surrounding them. Sasuke and Natsumi shuddered.

"What's wrong, kids? Are you trembling with fear already?" Sasuke and Natsumi smirk.

"No way, you browless freak. We're trembling from excitement." With that, the Rookie and Kunoichi of the Year took down all ten clones in quick fashion, causing the mist to clear a little. They saw Zabuza back on his feet and with the fake hunter ninja ready to fight.

"So that was excitement, huh...I think you got some rivals, Haku." spoke Zabuza.

Sasuke and Natsumi dashed towards Zabuza but Haku stopped them.

"You shall not touch Master Zabuza. I will be your opponent."

"You masked effeminate bastard, you think you can defeat the two of us?"

"It's not the quantity that counts, it's the quality that matters. Unfortunately, I just happen to outrank the both of you in quality." Haku spoke behind the mask.

Sasuke and Natsumi just growled at that but continued their assault. On their own, they barely got to Haku, but together, Haku would have some problems. The hunter nin needed to take them down quickly in order to assist Zabuza, so Haku jumped back to make some distance between them and started to make hand signs

 **"** **Secret Water Art** **:** **Crystal** **Ice Mirrors.** **"**

With that, mirrors of solid ice appeared around the Hidden Leaf ninja and trapped them inside a dome of ice.

 **At the same time,**

In the woods of the Land of Waves, two figures with hoods walked, one of tall stature and plentiful muscles, the other of a younger age, but also had quite a muscular build.

"Nervous?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Don't worry, kiddo. They'll understand and accept why you left them, after all you did this training because you wanted to help them, but if you want, we can still change the plan so we can avoid some people"

"No, master. We're sticking to the plan because they should know who and what they've missed." The smaller person said disappointedly.

 **At** **Tazuna's** **house...**

Tsunami stood over the sink washing dishes while her 8 year old son, Inari, sat in his room. Kurenai still needed to recuperate from her injuries sustained at the hands of Zabuza, so she lay in a nearby room, resting.

20 thugs stood outside Tazuna's house under orders to capture one hostage from this house, then they cut the front door and stepped inside. They burst into the living room door with a crash and sauntered inside, scaring Tsunami.

"My, my, my. The boss told us the geezer had a daughter, I didn't think she'd be this hot. I mean, damn!" One thug spoke.

"Yeah, in fact, so many people are scared of the boss, no one seems to come out at night. That's too bad, considering when we can't relieve ourselves, we get a bit pent up. Looks like I've found my outlet." Another thug spoke, licking his lips and sending a shudder of disgust down Tsunami's spine.

"Shut up, you idiots. Let's just nab the lady and get this over with." A third one spoke.

Inari ran from his room at the sound of a door crashing. When he saw the amount of thugs standing outside, he started to tremble in fear.

A thug looked around the house and saw Inari's frightened form. "Hey, do we need that kid too?"

"Nah, the boss said just one. Do what you want with him."

The thug that saw Inari smirked. "Well, that's fantastic. I need something to sink my new sword into, and nothing's better than the tender flesh of a brat!"

"NO, DON'T! I will come with you. I'll do what you say. Just please don't hurt my son!" Tsunami begged desperately with tears in her eyes. The thug scoffed.

"Well, it'd be wrong to turn down a woman's proposition, so consider this your lucky day, kid. Enjoy your life and pray you never come in front of me, otherwise I may not be as civilized."

Inari stood there, trembling still, this time with shame. He couldn't just stand there and let those jerks take his mother away, but what could he do? He's just a boy! He's just...just...

 _'_ _I'm just a weakling. I'm a pathetic weakling who_ _can't do anything but cry.'_

The thugs tied Tsunami's hands and started walking towards their hideout.

"Stop right there!."

The thugs heard a voice, calling for them to stop. They turned to see Kurenai sweating and holding her stomach with one hand and with a kunai knife in her other hand

"Unbind her, NOW!" She yelled and started to attack thugs. Despite her injury, she still cut down a good number of them, 5 or 6, before one attack her from behind and slice her back.

"AAAGGGGHHH!" She yelled in pain. She knew she couldn't fight properly since her cut from Zabuza went deeper than she thought, but she wouldn't let these bastards take off with an innocent as long as she still drew breath! She cut down one or two more thugs before one attacked her leg, further impairing her movements.

"DAMN BITCH! NOW YOU DIE!" One thug roared before swinging his sword down towards Kurenai.

Her life flashed before her eyes as she reminisced her childhood, her father's death, her love Asuma, and her students Kiba, Shino and Hinata, especially Hinata. Ever since the blonde boy named Naruto left the Hidden Leaf, she showed little to no emotions in front of anyone. Kurenai wanted to help her make new friends and get her to show more of her emotions. How would Hinata ever return to the caring and lovely girl from before if she didn't have a sensei to help her?

 _"My dear_ _Hinata...forgive your teacher._ _"_

The deathblow never came.

After a few moments, she opened her eyes and saw a tall man with a brown hooded cloak holding the sword between two fingers. With a twist of those fingers, he broke the sword. All the thugs that Kurenai hadn't killed stood afraid of this newcomer, but some of them attacked the man, or at least tried to. A smaller cloaked person jumped between them and knocked them out with simple karate chops, kicks and punches on their pressure points.

The tall man looked at Kurenai.

"Hey, you're not hurt too bad, are you?"

Kurenai shook her head, earning a sigh of relief from the tall man. He then turned to Tsunami, who still stood against the wall in fear.

"You, are you ok?" The man asked her. She just gave a nod, like Kurenai.

" _Who are these people? Could they be ninja?"_

The smaller hooded figure turned to speak to Tsunami. "Can we know why they were taking you like a prisoner?"

Tsunami then came out of her daze and move her arms. She had no idea when they cut her bonds until she saw a rope in the taller man's hand.

" _How...when did he untie my hands?"_

She started explaining how Gato came to the Land of Waves and shook down every last ryo the country had. Her husband, Kaiza, died opposing Gato and since then, the country has lost its morale, bending to the will of Gato. She then explained about her father building a bridge of home and that ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village had taken asylum in her home. When she mentioned the Leaf, the smaller person turned to Kurenai.

Suddenly, Inari charged at the cloaked figures with a roar and a wooden stick.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY MOTHER, YOU BASTARD!"

The child went after the smaller person, only for his weapon to fly out of his hand. Inari lost his footing and fell in front of the smaller figure.

"INARI!" Tsunami yelled desperately. The person in front of the child looked at him and moved his right hand towards Inari. Tsunami went to get him away, but the taller man held her back. If they could knock out mercenaries from Gato's organization, what chance did they stand? "STOP, PLEASE DON'T HURT HIM, I BEG YOU!"

As the hand drew closer to Inari, he closed his eyes and braced himself for an attack. Imagine his surprise when the person put his hand on his head and ruffled his hair.

"You were willing to attack me in order to save your mother. That takes a lot of guts." The smaller figure commended, giving Inari a grin only he could see. "What's your name kid?" The smaller person asked.

"I-Inari" Inari spoke with hesitation.

"Inari, originally female origin, it means one who is successful. You've impressed me, Inari. You remind me of myself when I was your age." Inari's lower lip started to quiver and he immediately put his hands to his eyes. He didn't need anyone to see him cry. The person saw this and pulled the boy closer.

"Inari, crying doesn't make you weak. It makes you human. Don't suppress your emotions anymore, just let it out."

With that, Inari clutched the small person's cloak and wept freely and the small person comforted him for every tear he cried. The smaller cloaked figure looked at the tall man.

"I think we need to move, but I want to help this village before we leave, is that ok with you, master Ryu?"

"I'd expect nothing less from my student. Also, I need some warming up so I think that it will be good for us."

When Inari heard this, he tugged on the smaller person's cloak.

"Please don't go! Gato is way too strong for you! I don't want you to get killed." When the student looked into Inari's eyes, he saw the same thing he used to feel:

Fear.

"Inari, life is beautiful. However, sometimes it's harsh, damn near unbearable, but living in fear is not my idea of living. I refuse to let anyone suffer like I did until four years ago. It's the reason I wanted to train; to become strong enough to protect those who are precious to me."

Inari and Tsunami stared in awe, as if they'd never expect such wisdom to come from a kid. Kurenai had heard everything from start and lay still in a bit of shock. These two newcomers defeated those thugs so easily and when she heard the student's voice, she couldn't believe it belonged to a kid; barely her students' age. Still, he defeated them in a matter of seconds but the fact that they wanted to help this country because of their moral code struck a chord within her. She knew she would do everything in her power to defend the Hidden Leaf against all enemies, but these people, they just met them and without thinking, they wanted to help them and also the small person spoke with the wisdom of an adult and she knew that only children who have lived harsh lives could speak such wise words.

"Excuse me, I just wanted to know; why do you want to help this country?"

"Simple. We like to help people and these guys deserve better than this. So we're gonna help." Ryu replied.

"Master Ryu!"

"Yeah?"

"We need to go right now if we want to help them." Ryu nodded and they started to leave but Kurenai spoke up.

"Wait! Please let me come with you, I can help you."

"We can't let you do that."

"But why?"

"You need to be here if someone attacks her once again." Ryu said, pointing at Tsunami. Kurenai just nodded, reluctantly.

"In that case, can I please know your names?" Ryu looked at his student and nodded. Said student turned to Kurenai.

"My name is Naruto, and this big man is my sensei Ryu." With that, the student-teacher duo left the house for the bridge.

Tsunami and Inari had small bubbles of hope rising inside them at the thought of freedom from Gato's rule. Kurenai sat in shock at the fact that Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, the long-lost son of the Fourth Hokage and the reason Hinata grew colder than ice, had just saved them after he vanished from the Hidden Leaf for four whole years. Before Kurenai could say anything to the boy, they had gone.

Kurenai held her stomach and tried to lift herself off the ground, but the wound in her leg made it extremely difficult, if not impossible. Thankfully, Tsunami stopped her before she could strain herself further.

"Please stop, I know you want to help your friends but those two will help them. You don't need to worry about them."

"I'm not worried about that, Ms. Tsunami. The kid who knocked out those thugs, Naruto, is the son of our Hokage, who vanished all of sudden four years ago. I have to tell my team that I've seen him."

"Where did you see him?" Kurenai recognized that voice and look backwards and saw a woman with red hair in Leaf Jonin wear and three Leaf ANBU behind her.

"Kushina sensei? What are you doing here?"

"Where, where is my son Kurenai? Please tell me!" Kushina asked desperately.

"They just moved towards the bridge you will catch up to them if you go to full speed."

Kushina accepted it and started to move towards the bridge as fast as she could with her special ANBU team trailing her.

 **Meanwhile, a** **t the bridge** **...**

Haku trapped both Sasuke and Natsumi inside his deadly jutsu, his reflection showed in every mirror he created and he attacked with his senbon ice needles at such a high speed, the two Leaf genin couldn't possibly track him. Sasuke and Natsumi blocked as many attacks as they could from Haku, but he wouldn't give them a chance to breathe.

Outside the dome, Kakashi fought with Zabuza and the remaining genins protected Tazuna so that should Zabuza get past Kakashi, he wouldn't get to Tazuna without a fight. Shino tried to help Sasuke and Natsumi but Zabuza stopped him, kicking in the gut and he flew across the bridge and landed across the bridge unconscious.

Zabuza and Kakashi had reached a stalemate, so they decided to use their one last technique to finish the battle. Kakashi made four different hand signs and in his palm came a ball of lightning that shrouded his hand.

" **Chidori!"**

Zabuza used his sword instead of a jutsu, and both ran at each other with a battle cry. Kakashi thrust his hand towards Zabuza's chest and Zabuza swing his sword to cut Kakashi in half. However, a single person appeared and put a stop to both attacks.

Kakashi and Zabuza stopped, shocked that someone could have stopped their attacks, but their shock increased from the fact that the person who stopped their attacks did it with their bare hands! They jumped backwards, creating some distance between themselves and the newcomer.

"Who are you? Another man who working for Gato?" The stranger began to chuckle, much to Kakashi's annoyance. "What's so funny?"

The man lifted his hood, revealing a handsome, brown-haired man. "My name is Ryu. And I am not working for Gato so just take it easy." Then Ryu turned his face towards Zabuza. "I did not come here to kill you, but I will not let you kill innocents, so I suggest that you leave with your partner before you curse yourself."

' _W_ _hat the hell_ _? Whoever this guy is, he_ _stopped my attack with his bare hands_ _,_ _like it was nothing!_ _This guy...I can't sense his chakra, but I can tell he's way beyond my league. Plus,_ _with Kakashi here,_ _I'll be lucky if I get close enough to kill him. Withdrawal seems like my best option here._ _'_

Zabuza nodded, canceling his mist.

 **With** **Sasuke,** **Natsumi,** **and** **Haku...**

Haku panted heavily. Moving at such high speeds drained the fake hunter-nin, but in order to protect his master Zabuza, he either had to stop them or kill them. He decided the latter and moved for the killing blow. Suddenly, his ice mirrors shattered and the person with a cloak stopped Haku from attacking.

" _What just happened? This person surpassed my speed and cancelled my attack! Who are they?"_

The cloaked person turned towards Haku, but looked back at Sasuke with a smirk.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, bastard?"

And cut,

Thanks for reading story,

Special thanks to MODdenial

Have a nice day


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is rewritten**

'No _. No. No, No, NO, NO, NO! I_ _t can't be him, he left the village 4 years ago..._ _b_ _ut he is the only one that calls_ _me_ _'_ _Bastard' and gets away with it.'_

Natsumi, however, didn't take this insult lightly. She and Sasuke didn't get along, sure, but no one insulted her comrades and got away, regardless of how she felt towards them. She rushed to attack the hooded person but stopped on the spot when she heard a name come from Sasuke's mouth.

"Naruto, is it...is it really you?" The hooded person smirk and put down his hood, revealing his spiky blonde hair, cerulean blue eyes, and whisker marks.

"I'm glad you haven't forgotten me...Sasuke."

Both Natsumi and Sasuke stood in shocked stillness. Sasuke got out of his shock first and his face turned from shocked to serious. Sasuke then started to walk towards Naruto.

"Hehe, sorry about not telling you about me leaving. It's not easy to tell someone about your plans so soon after hearing your parents...well, you know. I hope you understand." Sasuke said nothing until he stood right in front of Naruto and hit him in the head as hard as he could.

"OW! Geez, what was that for?"

"You inept loser! Do you have any idea how worried and heartbroken me, my family, Hinata's family, and our friends' families were when we heard that you left the village?! You pull something like this again, Naruto, I'm going to make sure you regret it!"

Naruto's grin quickly returned. He and his sensei knew it all along. He did have people in the Leaf who missed him dearly.

"Don't worry. I don't plan on leaving my friends again anytime soon."

The mist started to disappear and everyone could see everyone clear as day. Naruto saw his master standing between Kakashi and Zabuza and then he got very shocked looks from Kakashi and Hinata, Hinata more so.

Meanwhile, Natsumi remained immobile, too shocked to do or say anything.

 _'It's him. There's no mistaking it. Those whisker marks, that blonde hair. It's really him. We finally meet again, brother, after four long years.'_

Natsumi had heard of people crying tears of happiness, but she didn't think she could do such a thing until. Before they got out of their shock, Natsumi ran towards Naruto.

"BROTHER!" She cried happily, opening her arms to hug her long lost brother, only to hug nothing but air. Natsumi falling forward shocked everyone, but it paled to the shock they felt when they saw that Naruto now stood in front of Hinata. No one except Ryu, Kakashi, Haku and Zabuza could track his movements.

 _'What? How can_ _Naruto_ _travel such large distan_ _ces_ _so fast_ _. That was mid jonin_ _speed, but I didn't sense any chakra in his feet_ _. Naruto...just how strong have you become?_ _'_ Kakashi thought.

' _What just happened?_ _Was_ _that really_ _Naruto_ _or someone else?'_ Natsumi thought.

 _'_ _Amazing_ _! How can_ _Naruto_ _be that fast, did he learn some sort of jutsu?_ _No, h_ _e can't use chakra so how can he be that fast_ _?_ _'_ Sasuke thought.

Hinata's breath hitched in her throat. Who would do something so cruel as to place a genjutsu in front of her, just to distract her from her duty? 4 years have passed since she last saw her crush, no, the love of her life. For 4 years, she cried herself to sleep, wondering when she would ever the sunshine of her life again. Now, here he stood, right in front of her. Tears slowly came to her eyes as he gave her one of those foxy grins she had missed so dearly. She dared to reach out her hand and slowly brought it to cup one of those cute whiskered cheeks she adored. "Naruto...it's you...isn't it?"

Naruto slowly brought up an arm and pressed the hand resting on his cheek closer to his face, leaning into it slightly. "It's me, my dear princess."

That did it. She threw her arms around him, hugging him desperately and started to cry.

"Naruto, it's you! It's you, it's you, it's really you! I'm so...so...oh, Naruto…"

Naruto wrapped his hands around her and gently stroked her hair.

"Shhh, I'm here now, love. I'm so sorry I left you in the village. I promise you, Hinata, I will never leave you again. I'm here to stay, and I'm here to stay with you, my dear." With every soft and sweet word entering her ear, Hinata tightened the embrace, terrified to let him go.

Meanwhile, when Sakura heard Naruto's name for the first time as a child, she never thought that she would ever see him, but then she remembered what her mother told her. She called Naruto a disgrace, a waste of space, a demon. She stared at him with hatred but it floored her to see that Hinata, the ice queen of her class, showed actual emotion for the first time after their days in the academy, and to none other than the demon!

Kiba never thought he'd ever see Hinata cry. She even had her arms around someone who he had never even seen in the village. That infuriated the feral genin.

' _I'll show this_ _blonde_ _bastard_ _who_ _the_ _alpha male is._ _I'm gonna rip him apart in such a fashion, Hinata won't be able to look at any other man but me, thus making her mine_ _forever._ _'_ He thought to himself, licking his lips at the prospect.

Shino, now conscious, held his stomach while looking at Naruto. Like the others, shock gripped him when he first saw the blond, then a smile hatched on his face. For the first time in four years, his first friend stood in front of him, safe and sound.

Tazuna had no clue of the happenings in front of him, but since those guys saved his life, they couldn't possibly have any loyalty to Gato so that made him happy.

Speaking of Gato...the sound of clapping aired arrogantly through the air as they turned to a pudgy old man with a cane.

"'The Demon of the Hidden Mist?' Pathetic! You look more like a baby demon, Zabuza. Look at yourself, how could you let yourself get beaten by a bunch of children and babysitters. Though, if you actually had gotten rid of them, I never would've paid you anyway. You can die, Zabuza, as you are now obsolete. Men, kill them all, but leave the girls. I've especially got my eye on that lavender haired girl. Oh, what I could do with that pearlescent skin…"

As he spoke, Naruto grew more and more angry, but then this asshole just had to speak about Hinata, his princess, in such a way. He took one step in Gato's direction and filled his vision with color with one powerful blow to the face, sending him flying unconsciously to a wall in the distance.

"You don't dare lay a finger on my princess…or else you die!"

The thugs nearly soiled themselves as they didn't see the attack until Gato flew past them. The speed and power he just displayed easily trumped what they believed Zabuza could do.

"Calm down, you dumbasses! It's just one kid against all of us! Let's make this brat cry to mommy!" With that, they started their assault at Naruto. When Kakashi, Sasuke and Natsumi saw this, they dashed towards Naruto to save him, but before anyone could move, Ryu stood between the Hidden Leaf ninja and the boy they wanted to save.

' _H_ _e_ _'s just as_ _fast_ _,_ _or maybe even faster, as/than_ _Naruto._ _'_ Kakashi screamed.

"Look mister, you need to move, my brother needs my help!" Natsumi screamed.

"He is more than capable to defeat these guys. Just leave it to him." Ryu spoke seriously.

"He's my brother! He needs my help, and I'm going to help, even if I have to go through you do it!" She moved towards Naruto but Ryu just use his kiai and all the Hidden Leaf genin dropped to their knees, gaping.

' _H_ _-he_ _damaged_ _us without even touching us? Is this guy is even human?'_ Kakashi wondered

' _W_ _hat the heck_ _did he just do_ _?'_ Sasuke thought. Natsumi couldn't think because of the terrified shock she felt from Ryu's increase of focus on the kiai he used on Natsumi.

"I will not repeat myself, he don't need your help so don't interrupt him, and do not even think to use your sharingan, it is useless against me." Ryu said. Kakashi just stopped for the umpteenth time today.

' _H_ _ow the hell_ _did he know_ _what I was going to do_ _?_ _'_ Still, he looked towards Ryu with his sharingan eye. He couldn't believe that the man before him didn't have a single drop of chakra, yet possessed such an enormous amount of power. Kakashi came out of his thoughts when he heard a loud scream. All of the ninja looked towards the origin of the scream.

Again, they stood in shock at the sight of the unconscious and broken bodies of the thugs and Naruto held one thug by the collar and he punched that thug in the gut, making him spit up some blood and then fall unconscious.

'In that entire fight...no, it wasn't even a fight, he crushed them all like ants; he didn't even get a single scratch nor a single drop of blood was spilt on his clothes. What the hell happened to you in these past 4 years, Naruto?'

"I told you he didn't need your help." Ryu said and started to walk towards Tazuna, leaving several shocked genin from the Hidden Leaf. Then Naruto came in front of Zabuza and threw Gato in front of him

"I think you have some business with him, so I would suggest that you should do it soon, because as soon as you're done, the villagers will have their pound of flesh from him." Gato lay on the ground as he saw his empire falling apart before his eyes. He had to do something in order to save himself. Zabuza lifted Gato by his collar and snarled.

"You know, Gato, you're lower than the dirt beneath our feet. Did you really think your merry band of ragtag mercenaries could kill someone like me?!" Gato clutched at his collar and turned to Ryu.

"P-please...save me...I can and will give you anything you want...money...power...women...just name it, but please...save my life...and kill them." He begged quiveringly.

Everyone tensed up. This man who knocked than several genin without touching them could do a lot more than just scare them if he agreed with the deal. He stopped Kakashi and Zabuza's attacks with nothing but his bare hands, too.

 _'_ _I_ _f the man accept_ _s Gato's_ _request, it will be very difficult to defeat him._ _He's no ordinary man,_ _that's for sure.'_ Kakashi thought. Ryu chuckled which got him confused looks from everyone except from Naruto who just shook his head at Gato's plea.

' _This 'Gato' creep is done for.'_ Naruto sighed mentally.

"There is nothing you can give me that I don't already have or desire, so I can't help you. Also...I don't take orders from anyone, especially from overfed, arrogant slimeballs like you."

Gato paled because his trick didn't work. The ruined man stood ready to curse them all to the lowest regions of hell, but before he could speak, a kunai went into his neck, killing him instantly, and then Zabuza hurled his body into the river and turned his attention towards Ryu and Naruto.

"I'd like to thank the both of you. Thanks to you, I can go and help rebellions in the Village Hidden in the Mist. If you need help from either or both of us, just let us know, we'd be happy to help."

The four exchanged bows, then Zabuza and Haku departed, using water and ice shunshin. That left seven Hidden Leaf ninja, Tazuna and our two martial artists standing on the bridge. Naruto then turned to his three friends.

"Hinata, Shino, Bastard, you all look well."

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO CALL MY SASUKE A BASTARD?! YOU NO GOOD D-" Sakura screeched, only for her rant to come to a merciful end by Hinata with a swift chop to the neck.

"Still having trouble with fangirls, I see." Naruto chuckled. Sasuke just ignored that remark. "Hey Shino, how have you been? Taking care of the beetles?" Shino nodded coolly, but anyone could tell by the energetic buzzing in Shino's system that the sight of his first friend made him very happy. Naruto turned towards Hinata. Before Naruto could ask Hinata about life without him for her, which he could presume didn't go so well, someone else spoke up. Someone he didn't want to see or hear, at least for now. Kushina Uzumaki appeared with her team of ANBU. She stared at him with tears in her eyes and he stared back at her with a blank expression.

"N-Naruto, I-is t-that you?"

"Yes, I am Naruto. Umm, I don't think we've met, who are you?"

Kushina stood in shock and hurt of the fact that her son did not recognize her but still spoke.

"Son, it's me. It's Mommy." Naruto just looked at her blankly.

"Sorry, Miss, but I have no parents. I'm an orphan." This shocked everyone present, saved for an unconscious Sakura, and Ryu who only sighed.

As if nothing else could further Kushina from the inside. She fell to her knees and wept. Natsumi went to her side to comfort her. She then turned to Naruto, remorse in her eyes.

"Brother, I know we have more than wronged you throughout your life, and I'm sorry we didn't realize how important you were to us until four years ago, but we want to make it up to you."

"What you're saying is going above and beyond my head. I must not have been clear so let me reiterate. I am an orphan, or is the better word 'worthless' or 'dead weight?' Yeah, dead weight seems right. I was nothing but dead weight to my family so they abandoned me. Well, this man in the cloak is more than just my teacher. For the past 4 years, he's been and is my family. The only family that I have. The family I never had. Do you understand?"

That got another set of shocked looks from them, especially from Kushina. When she heard him call himself "deadweight," she nearly shattered from the inside. She immediately thought back to what Minato had told him when he asked why he couldn't train with them.

" _ **You're worthless, Naruto."**_

She cursed herself for not going to comfort her son, for failing him in his time of need.

"Naruto, I won't say that I understand how you feel, because I don't. I know that you're angry. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you might hate them, but at least just listen to them. You must understand; they wanted to be sure that the chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox would be put to proper use, lest it corrupt the user."

Ryu put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto, what I have told you? Emotions don't make you weak, they make you human. Just let it out." Naruto nodded his master like he would an older brother and closed his eyes. When he opened them, they saw only one emotion in his eyes.

Anger.

He calmed himself and turned to Kakashi with a more composed look on his face.

"Kakashi, I know that Natsumi needed to control her power or it would have caused big problems for the village, but tell me, is that any reason to ignore your other child? Also Natsumi, at some point in time, contributed to my lonely childhood, but it wasn't anything meaningful, it was nothing but childish innocence. I am not angry with her, nor do I blame, nor do I hate her. As for hating my former parents..." He started, pointing a finger Kushina and indirectly including Minato. "I don't have the strength to hate them. I can only be disappointed. Kakashi, you told me to listen to them, to look at things from their point of view. Why should I listen to them? They never heard me cry. They never felt my pain. They never showed me a single ounce of compassion. I don't have the strength to hate them, Kakashi. They deserve nothing from me, least of all my hate!"

This statement shocked them more than anything they had seen since Naruto arrived. Kushina always feared that her son wouldn't forgive her, but to think he wouldn't even consider them his family anymore…!

Ryu already knew everything that Naruto had just said. 4 years of living together certainly went a long way towards building trust. When Naruto went into detail about his miserable life in the Leaf, he immediately went after several mountains and trees in anger.

"Because of them, I had no one when I was growing up. When Natsumi wanted anything, she always got it, but when I wanted even the smallest thing, I was ignored like, treated as if I were invisible. They always made time for her, no matter what. I never got so much as a minute with them."

The leaf ANBU standing behind Kushina lowered their heads. Itachi and Shisui cared an awful lot about Naruto. When he had left the village, the whole Uchiha clan spent days, weeks, and even months searching for him, coming up empty every time. They severed their friendship with the family of the Fourth Hokage as they had practically shoved Naruto out the gates. Knowing that he had suffered so much before Itachi met him made them wish they had known him sooner so they would have protected him earlier and much more often.

"They always made time for her, but when I wanted to spend my time with them, they were always busy and shoved me aside, like some dog on the streets! When Natsumi got so little as a paper cut, they always got the absolute best treatment for her. When I almost died countless times at the hands of the same villagers I'm supposed to feel safe around-in fact, let me tell you this, Kakashi. When I was a child, they did everything they could to kill me because they believed that I was the living reincarnation of the damned Nine-Tailed Fox!"

Tazuna may not have known Naruto very long, but for a child to have go through so much neglect from his family and abuse from his people...just what sort of morals did the Hidden Leaf Village have that made it okay for them to treat their young like this?

Kakashi stared at the ground in sadness. Everyone had told him how badly his sensei had failed Naruto as a father. He didn't want to believe it at first, but everything Naruto just said validated everything the Hyuga and Uchiha clans, the clans who cared about Naruto more than anyone else, told him about the estranged child.

Kiba looked like he could care less, but deep down, he suddenly felt angry for the blonde newcomer. Treating runts like garbage didn't sit well with the Inuzuka clan. A pack takes care of their own, and for Kushina, Minato, and Natsumi not to care for and love Naruto like they should have, it made Kiba shocked and appalled.

"They didn't so much as step one foot towards the hospital. I didn't think I'd ever despise myself for existing. If it I didn't have Shino, Sasuke my favorite bastard, and Hinata my princess to live for, those villagers would've gotten their wish right there and then. Think about it; if you almost died and your family never noticed you, what would you have done, Kakashi?"

Nothing but the softly blowing wind filled the air after Naruto finished. Sakura, bless her heart, still lay unconscious from her screeching.

Shino had his head down, but he clenched his fists. The hive in his body buzzed angrily after hearing what his friend has gone through for so long. He felt a renewed sense of hatred towards the Namikaze family for deserting their son in his time of need. His hive stopped buzzing so urgently when Naruto said that without him, he would've killed himself, which made him scared and happy.

Sasuke ground his teeth and dug his nails so far into his palms, they drew blood. His hatred towards the Namikaze family for what they put his best friend, his beloved loser, through only increased as he got older. When he found out that Naruto left the village, he grew reserved and the pleasant Sasuke Uchiha side only came out around his family and his friends. Outside, however, he would brood and train to bring Naruto back to the Leaf. He knew his friend had a miserable childhood, but for them to neglect him that much…!

Hinata's tears fell freely down her face as she heard how much the love of her life had suffered. Before Naruto left, she couldn't look anyone in the eye and she would speak so soft, almost no one could hear her. When she met Naruto, she slowly and slowly came out her shell, even though she hadn't grown as strong as the clan would've liked her. Then when Naruto left, she trapped her emotions in a block of ice and the gentle and loving Hinata Hyuuga vanished. The strong, formidable, ice cold Hyuuga heiress took her place, something the elders liked very much. No one ever believed Hinata would ever show such emotion again, so imagine how strange it looked for Hinata to cry in broad daylight. Well, seeing the one you love appear in front of you after 4 years of nothing tends to do that to you.

Natsumi hung her head in shame. She knew that she had a hand in the events that made Naruto leave the village, but her heart soared with happiness after learning that he didn't hate her, despite everything. Kushina and Natsumi both kept their eyes on the ground. It hurt so badly to hear a once vibrant young boy say such scathing things to them, but they needed to hear this. They needed to know how badly they failed Naruto as a family.

"My son, I'm so sorry. I never knew that you had to go through such horrid things. If you could've told me of these things at least once…."

"Let me stop you right there. Do you remember what happened every single time I tried to approach you for anything? Think about it." Naruto spoke, his voice cold as ice. Kushina thought back to the few memories she had of Naruto. Whenever he wanted to speak about the beatings he got from the villagers…

She always hit him and locked him in his room without food for days.

How could she have hit him without knowing why he came to her? What drove her to lock him in his room like some prisoner? How can she possibly call herself a mother, let alone a good one?

"All I wanted was my mother and father's love. Instead, I only got beaten for no reason. No, I'm wrong. I did get beaten for a reason. I always got beat because unlike me, Natsumi has chakra could be used to defend the village."

Kushina reeled in shock. How could her son think that he suffered because of his lack of chakra?

"Kakashi, as you know, both of my former parents were orphans, but because of their hard work, they rose through the ranks of ninja. They became my heroes and I wanted to be just like them, chakra or no chakra, because I thought they were true shinobi, not just some power-hungry ninja. I was wrong then, too. They're just the same as power-hungry ninja. They were orphans because they lost their family, but even though I had a family, I had to live like an orphan because I didn't have power. I would always ask myself...Do I have right to exist? Does anyone love me? Does anyone care if I live or die? There is a saying that 'To love without condition, to talk without bad intention, to give without reason, and to care about without expectation is the heart of a true mother.'" Naruto spoke with a sad, almost quivering tone, yet despite all this, he controlled his emotion. He never raised his voice once, every word that came out of his mouth had truth behind it.

Kushina's world practically crumbled. Her son actually thought that she and Minato would do anything for power? Did they set Naruto so far aside from them that he started to doubt his own existence?!

"Before I met Hinata for the first time, I was going to kill myself."

That very statement shocked everyone, Hinata then grabbed Naruto desperately.

"What did you say?! What were you thinking?! You were going to kill yourself?! Do you have any idea what it would do to me if you did?" Hinata said, tears still running down her cheek. Naruto embraced her, missing her scent of lavender for 4 whole years.

"Like I said, I was going to kill myself before I met you. You gave me a reason to live, Hinata."

This statement made Hinata's heart warm up in happiness. Not only has her love returned to her, but he remained alive because of her.

"I'll tell you why I wanted to die later." Everyone nodded at that, save for Kushina, whose hands gripped her long red hair. Why would her son even think about killing himself? Is it because of their neglect or something else? Still, she could not deny that she had ruined her son's life, but thanks to Hinata, he had a reason to live. Kushina cursed her own name, thinking that she couldn't even call herself a human. Maybe calling herself a demon would fit her for what she did to her son.

"Naruto, you don't ever have to want to kill yourself again. There are a lot of people who really care for you. I'll never leave you to suffer again...because...I love you, Naruto. I love you so much."

"And I love you, Hinata my dear princess. I have three reasons for being here. Shino's here, Sasuke the lovable bastard is here, and also, you're here. I do not care about anyone in this world except you, my master Ryu, also my other teachers from the Leaf and my friends." Naruto finished with a grin. Hinata went red as a tomato. "When we took care of those thugs of Mr. Tazuna's house, we heard about you, your team and Sasuke's team fighting on the bridge. Out of three of you, I wanted to see you again the most."

"Where the hell were you all this time, loser?" Sasuke asked

"Well, I spent all this time training with master Ryu and some of my other masters. I can't tell you exactly where I was, bastard, but I will say that I couldn't reach any of you from there."

"Then there's one more thing I want to know. Are you coming back with us to the Hidden Leaf Village?"

Naruto just stared at Sasuke while considering his answer.

"DAMMIT, JUST SPEAK IT UP ALREADY, LOSER!"

"Hey, you don't have to yell, bastard. I'm sorry, but...I can't go back to the Hidden Leaf Village."

"WHAT?!" Everyone practically screamed.

"Naruto, I know you are angry at your parents, but everyone really wants you back so please come back to the village with us." Kakashi pleaded.

"Look Kakashi, I know there are a few people back there who really care about me." He looked towards Hinata, Sasuke, and Shino "I know it will hurt them that after all these years, they have finally found me only for me to not go back with them...but with the exception of my friends, the entire village caused me nothing but pain. They tortured me, almost killed me, just because of these whisker marks. Thanks to some people, I am still alive but the most important thing is that the people, who once I considered as my family, forgot about my existence. How can you ask me to go in such place where I am not needed?"

"Naruto, I know that you were wronged and that's why we want to make it up to you. I am really sorry for what we've done." Kushina sobbed.

"This is why I don't want to go back to the Hidden Leaf." Naruto sighed.

"W-what do you mean?" Kushina asked, shocked.

"You want me back now because of your grief, not because you love me…"

"No, we really do love you, my son."

"What you think is love, I see as pity. That's the last thing I need." Naruto said, a little annoyed from Kushina's interruption.

"Naruto, you're getting it wrong."

"Actually, Kakashi, I'm not. Tell me, when exactly did you find out I was missing?"

"…A week after your birthday?"

"And how, pray tell, did you find out?" Naruto asked.

"I pointed out that you were missing..." spoke Natsumi, slowly realizing Naruto's point.

"Do you understand now? Do you see why I don't want to go back. I will thank you, Natsumi. At least you remembered that you had a brother. Still, if Natsumi hadn't pointed that out, I think they never would have realized that I was gone."

Kushin clutched her chest, horrified that she had wronged him to this extent.

' _Is this really true? If Natsumi_ _didn't point_ _it out_ _,_ _would we_ _have never realized that_ _Naruto_ _was missing?_ _Is grief, not love, really the main reason why we want_ _Naruto_ _back in our lives?_ _'_

"Look, Kakashi. I don't hate my former parents, or my sister, but I no longer care what happens to them anymore. Once, they were a big part of my life, but now they are nothing but a bad memory and that's how I want it to be; a memory. Nothing more and nothing less.

Hinata cupped Naruto's face and looked into his calm blue eyes.

"Naruto, I can't begin to understand how painful it would be for you if you were to come back to the Hidden Leaf Village. The villagers treated you like trash, but there are still people who really care for you and they want you back."

 _'I want you back, Naruto. I want you to be back in my life again.'_

"Please come back with us, Naruto." Naruto looked to a different side, but she forced to him to look in her eyes. It almost made him laugh. "Naruto, please...for me?" Naruto's cold eyes softened and he just shook his head.

"Hinata, this kind of decision requires time. I need to think about it"

Hinata nodded, satisfied somewhat.

"Ok then, let's go back to Mr. Tazuna's home for some rest." Naruto looked at Ryu who just nodded at him. Naruto sighed and nodded, earning sighs of joyful relief. When they started to leave, Kakashi went up to Ryu

"Ah...Mr. Ryu, I would like to have a chat with you. Would you please stay here?" When Naruto heard this, he stopped and looked at his master. Ryu smiled and made a shooing motion with his hand.

"So, Mr. Ryu, can we know where you found Naruto?"

Naruto started to walk towards Tazuna's home with Tazuna leading. Sasuke and Shino stood by Naruto's sides. Sakura, now awake, followed Sasuke like a puppy. Speaking of which, Kiba, who bore his fangs in anger took up the rear with Kushina and Natsumi, who stared daggers at Hinata for occupying their son/brother and finally Hinata walked with Naruto, grabbing his arm and staunchly refusing to let go. Naruto smiled and wrapped the arm around Hinata protectively.

"I missed you…" Hinata sighed.

"I missed you too, dear." Naruto replied.

And cut,

Thanks for reading chapter,

Special thanks to MODdenial,

Have a nice day


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